Breaking news out of New York where a state judge just ruled that the Trump Organization is not responsible for most of Michael Cohen’s legal fees and criminal penalties:
Thread: A NY judge ruled yesterday that the Trump Org. is off the hook for paying much, but not all, of the $3.8M+ Michael Cohen says he owes in legal bills and criminal case penalties: https://t.co/VTR7sTIXxQ pic.twitter.com/V24WgZ0PMr
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
Cohen claims he had an oral agreement with the Trump Org. to cover his legal expenses — the judge ruled that, assuming that's true (it's in an early phase), the Trump Org. could have to pay re: matters pending when they reached the alleged agreement in July 2017, but not after
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
Cohen claimed $1.9M+ in legal bills covering everything from congressional investigations and the Mueller probe to lawsuits filed by Stormy Daniels. The lawsuit alleges the Trump Org *did* cover his legal expenses for a while, but stopped when he started cooperating with the feds
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
We’re still waiting to see how much Trump does have to pay, however:
It's not clear how much of Cohen's legal bills are still on the table now that the judge took any post-July 2017 matters off the table. Judge said TBD about whether certain matters were "future" post-July 2017 matters, or a continuation of something pending as of July 2017 pic.twitter.com/6qhXQv7CU8
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
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But this is good news for Trump:
Notably, the judge also ruled that Cohen couldn't press a separate claim for the Trump Org. to pay ~$1.9M that Cohen owes in criminal fines and forefeitures — even if they had an agreement about that, the judge said it would be "void as against public policy" pic.twitter.com/Q8Mu2RdMe0
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
And Trump will still try to pay nothing:
From the Trump Org's lawyer Marc Mukasey: "The judge’s decision was thoughtful and took a large chunk out of the plaintiff’s claims. We look forward to doing away with the leftover claims in due course." Also reached out to Cohen's counsel for comment, haven't heard back yet.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) August 29, 2019
Trump wins again.
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