Michael Cohen can't understand why Trump is so scared to give a deposition in his own libel suit
Donald Trump launched a $500 million lawsuit against Michael Cohen in the Spring of this year, but he requested that nothing be done about it until Oct. The person launching the lawsuit doesn't generally file it and then ask that it be delayed for months, but that's exactly what Trump did.
Three times, Trump has moved to delay his deposition in the case, Cohen told Jen Psaki on MSNBC Sunday.
"Very quickly before I let you go, Trump was actually scheduled to give a deposition on Tuesday, in the $500 million lawsuit that he filed against you," Psaki said. "Do you think he decided to say that he was attending the trial in New York in order to delay that deposition?"
Cohen isn't certain, but he doesn't believe Trump will show up in New York. He gave it a 20 percent chance Trump will be there.
Listen, with Donald, you never know," said Cohen. "It's not the first time that he has delayed that. It would actually now be the third time. The interesting part of the scenario is that Donald is the plaintiff. Who ever heard of a defendant having to try to force a plaintiff to proceed with a lawsuit? Especially one for $500 million!"
This case came from a filing Donald Trump did after Cohen sued him last year. Despite Cohen's work being done in New York, Trump filed his counter-suit in Miami, and in April 2023.
According to the filing, Cohen violated their employee agreement by going public with information about Trump and "enriched himself" on the back of Trump. 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.
Cohen had sued the Trump Organization for unpaid legal fees, ultimately settling the case for $1 million.
While Trump announced the suit in April, little has happened since then, according to the legal updates. Typically, when a lawsuit is filed there are several appearances in court and updates on the online docket. This has been largely silent, with nothing other than a deposition scheduled for Sept. 6 "at a law office in Miami," NBC News reported in July.
That deposition was delayed again until Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Cohen's attorney, Ben Brodsky, told NBC at the time that Trump's deposition notice "functions like a subpoena."
"He can’t avoid it, though he could dismiss the case," Brodsky explained.
“I look forward to Donald’s deposition under oath and proving the frivolous nature of the lawsuit,” Cohen said in a July statement.
Cohen told Psaki that he thinks Trump knows it's a frivolous lawsuit.
"He knows that the worst thing would be for me to depose him because, as he also said, he needed Todd Blanche to be there to ensure that he doesn't end up implicating himself in a — what would normally be a crime," Cohen said, mentioning Trump's lawyer. "So, he needs him there in order to assert his Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. This whole case is absolutely batty, and I don't believe that it will ultimately be dismissed whether or not he shows up for a deposition."
Former prosecutor Dennis Aftergut wrote for Slate in April that this suit could come back to bite Trump.
"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," the attorney wrote before 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."
See Cohen's comments in the video below or at the link here.
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