Renowned lawyer Alan Dershowitz has expressed admiration for ex-President Donald Trump’s utilization of a legal strategy in his conflict with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, receiving his acclaim.
According to Dershowitz, Trump’s decision to file a $500 million lawsuit against his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, serves as an advantageous move, acting as a potent “Trump card” to bolster his own legal position and undermine the case pursued by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney.
Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump on 34 criminal charges related to the falsification of business records associated with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Prior to the 2016 election, Trump allegedly made a payment to Daniels with the intention of maintaining her silence about a 2006 affair between the two. Trump has entered a plea of not guilty to all 34 charges.
“Good move. Good move. First of all, lawyers should not be violating lawyer-client privilege, number one. Number two, he gets a discovery, if he survives a motion to dismiss, and he is going to be able to find out things the government wouldn’t turn over to him in a criminal trial. So I think it’s a very smart move to go after Trump,” Dershowitz stated.
He further added, “It’s very hard these days to hide things forever. With the internet, with social media, if you get the right people you can get things that people think they have hidden. So, I’m glad we are going to get to the bottom of this. Look, transparency is essential. If people have nothing to hide, they shouldn’t be worried.”
In his legal action, Trump claimed that Cohen intentionally breached the confidentiality of their attorney-client relationship by divulging confidential information and disseminating false statements about him, driven by malicious intentions and solely for his own personal gain.
“Plaintiff has suffered vast reputational harm as a direct result of Defendant’s breaches,” the lawsuit, brought forth by Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito, was officially lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, as specified in the legal filing.
The lawsuit stated, “Defendant derived a significant benefit, to Plaintiff’s detriment and at Plaintiff’s expense, as a direct result of his breach of fiduciary duty, including, without limitation, realization of substantial monetary gain in the form of compensation, advances, royalties, proceeds and/or profits received for his role in the writing, publication, promotion, and/or sale of the Books.”
Trump is seeking a sum exceeding $500 million, encompassing actual, compensatory, incidental, and punitive damages from Cohen, along with any profits derived from his podcast and books.
Cohen’s actions have already emerged as a challenge for Bragg.
According to sources within law enforcement, a supervising detective involved in assisting Bragg’s case against Trump has been suspended due to his interactions with Cohen.
In the previous week, Bragg took action to contest Trump’s legal team’s attempt to transfer the hush-money case to federal court. Trump’s attorneys asserted at the end of the previous month that the case should not be heard in a state court since the purported violations occurred during his presidency, rendering them a federal matter.
Prosecutors in Manhattan, through court documents, argued that the case should remain within the jurisdiction of the state court. They contended that the alleged criminal activities of the former president were unrelated to his official duties and responsibilities as President, but instead stemmed from his personal business affairs and actions preceding the election.
