Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s ousted lawyer who has become a vocal critic of his former boss, thanked New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday after she acknowledged his role in uncovering misconduct that is now the subject of a $250 million lawsuit against the Trump Organization .
Ms. James’ office is suing Mr. Trump, his three oldest children and the collection of eponymous companies that make up his business empire for a quarter of a billion dollars and is asking a judge to bar the Trumps from serving as corporate officers in the Empire State.
At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, she said the Trump Organization and its representatives made more than 200 false and misleading valuations of her assets over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021.
She described the multiple “statements of financial condition” prepared by his former accounting firm – at his behest – as “exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false, and therefore fraudulent and illegal”.
New York’s attorney general launched an investigation into Mr. Cohen, who became widely known as a fierce defender of Mr. Trump but turned against him after he was indicted for his role in a scheme to cover up payments the former president made to cover up the affair. with adult film star Stormy Daniels, told New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Mr. Trump had inflated property values to his insurance company during a hearing before the House Oversight Committee.
Ms. James highlighted Mr. Cohen’s role in launching the three-year investigation.
“I will remind everyone that this investigation only began after Michael Cohen, a former attorney, his former attorney testified before Congress that shed light on this misconduct,” she said.
In response, Mr. Cohen took to Twitter, writing: “I want to personally thank @TishJames for acknowledging my involvement and helping bring Mandarin Mussolini to justice.”
He said his “journey to the truth” over the past few years had been “filled with sadness, pain and anger”, but noted that Ms James’ announcement “made it [all] is worth”.
