NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump on Monday opposed an attempt by his former fixer Michael Cohen to dismiss a lawsuit that accused Cohen of breaching his fiduciary duty to Trump "by spreading falsehoods" about his ex-boss.
"Despite Cohen's arguments to the contrary, the Complaint alleges that Cohen was conferred substantial benefits during his representation of the Plaintiff and utilized such benefits for purposes of obtaining selfish, financial profit at the expense of Plaintiff," Trump's attorney, Alejandro Britto, said in a statement.
Trump accused Cohen of "egregious breaches of fiduciary duty and contract" in connection with the publication of books and the production of a podcast that "are intended to be embarrassing or detrimental" to Trump.
Cohen argued that the lawsuit failed to properly state a claim and cast it as an attempt to silence "an important government witness" in the Manhattan district attorney's criminal prosecution of Trump.
Trump's legal team declined to directly address Cohen's claim.
"Cohen discusses the rulings in unrelated legal matters, makes references to various news articles designed to taint this Court's view of the Plaintiff and this case, unnecessarily injects invectives designed to exacerbate this already caustic matter," Britto said.