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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against his one-time lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is set for trial in August 2024, according to an order Friday by a federal judge in Florida.
Trump has accused Cohen of breaching his fiduciary duty and his lawsuit seeks at least a half-billion dollars in damages.
Cohen has sought to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it vindictive, frivolous and scattershot.
“This suit combines the worst of Mr. Trump’s vindictive impulses. The Complaint, frivolous and scattershot, is an abusive act of pure retaliation and witness intimidation, albeit a ham-fisted one,” Cohen’s attorneys Benjamin Brodsky and Danya Perry said in the motion to dismiss filed in May.
The judge has yet to rule on the motion to dismiss but set a trial date of Aug. 26, 2024, about a month after the Republican National Convention.
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.
“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 earlier this month.
The civil trial would require neither Trump nor Cohen to be present, but it represents yet another legal entanglement for the former president as he again seeks the White House.
Judge Darrin Gayles also ordered Trump and Cohen to try and mediate their dispute prior to trial, setting a mediation deadline of May 2024.
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