Judge Orders Trump To Provide In-Person Testimony In Michael Cohen Lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday issued an emergency order in a case filed by former President Donald Trump against his one-time “fixer,” attorney Michael Cohen.
Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres of the Southern District of Florida late Friday updated a legal filing by Trump in which he is counter-suing Cohen for allegedly violating an employee agreement by going public with certain details about their business dealings, Raw Story reported.
“It goes on to claim that Cohen both lied about Trump and revealed his secrets despite their attorney-client privilege. Trump also alleges a breach of contract,” the outlet reported. “The lawsuit demands the $74,000 Trump claims he paid Cohen for a ‘business expenditure’ that he said was ‘fraudulently misrepresented’ and then demands $500 million in damages.”
Cohen initially sued the Trump Organization for unpaid legal fees, settling the case for $1 million.
In July, NBC News reported that Trump received a deposition notice in his lawsuit against Cohen for Sept. 6 “at a law office in Miami.”
“I look forward to Donald’s deposition under oath and proving the frivolous nature of the lawsuit,” Cohen told NBC News in a statement.
Cohen’s attorney, Ben Brodsky, told NBC then that Trump’s deposition notice “functions like a subpoena.”
“He can’t avoid it, though he could dismiss the case,” Brodsky said.
However, Torres’ emergency order requires Trump to provide an in-person deposition on Sept. 5, which is Tuesday and a day earlier than previously scheduled, Raw Story noted.
“Such appearances don’t generally happen without warning, much less a late Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend,” the outlet reported.
Former prosecutor Dennis Aftergut wrote in far-left Slate in April that this suit could come back to haunt the former president.
“Trump just opened a pathway to discover — and information for the public — that Cohen had sought in a different lawsuit which a judge reluctantly felt compelled to dismiss last November because of Supreme Court law limiting personal actions against government officials,” he wrote, adding: “In December 2021, Cohen sued Trump for orchestrating the [Cohen’s] reincarceration. In November 2022, federal Judge Lewis Liman lamented that Trump’s status as a government official in 2020, when the reincarceration occurred, blocked courts from providing any relief against Trump.”
Trump faces four indictments, and according to one of his attorneys who serves as his spokesperson, he’s battling more than just Democrat prosecutors.
In an interview with Newsmax TV last week, Alina Habba said Trump is also facing a very hostile and often dishonest media machine.
“Russia hoax, impeachment hoax, I mean keep going, keep going, keep going,” Habba said. “What I think is the most frightening is not just the fake news media but that the fake news media, I think, is starting to permeate our court systems and our justice systems, and that’s what scares me.”
“If you’re on the right, you tend to watch right-wing shows that confirm your beliefs; if you’re on the left, you tend to watch things like MSDNC and CNN, and that confirms your beliefs on the opposite side,” she added.
“So the real question is, How do we start to open our eyes to the truth? And I think if we don’t have people out there giving the truth, and I know I, for one, and I know you both do this, we try and be intelligent about what we say and not just say what people want to hear,” Habba continued.
“I for sure don’t do that, but if people don’t start doing that and stop being afraid of being targeted for being honest Americans, we’re going to have a real problem,” she added.
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