Dem
51
GOP
49
When Trump wants to intimidate someone, he sues them. This makes the suee have to get a lawyer and pay big money to defend themself. Much of the time, the target of Trump's wrath gives up just to avoid the costs.
Trump is hopping mad at Michael Cohen, his one-time fixer and current nemesis, about Cohen's books and many media appearances attacking Trump and calling him a crook. Cohen also testified before Congress that Trump manipulated the value of his properties, telling the banks that they were made of gold and the property tax assessors that they were made of moldy cardboard. New York AG Letitia James picked this up and sued Trump. That case looks likely to strip Trump of his license to do business in New York State and could result in all of his New York State properties (and maybe some beyond) being seized and sold off to pay a fine that could reach $1 billion. Boy is Trump mad at Cohen, so he sued him for $500 million. That would put the fear of God in dumb Michael. Take that!
Cohen didn't flinch. His lawyer told Trump she wanted to depose him under oath. Trump is a terrible, awful, horrible witness, who can't remember what his lawyers tell him to say and who often blurts out very incriminating things. He was scheduled to be deposed today. Rather than go through with the deposition and be cross examined by Cohen's lawyer, who knows where the skeletons are buried because Cohen has told her, Trump dropped his lawsuit. Trump's lawyers probably strongly advised him to do this because: (1) he has no chance of winning his suit against Cohen, (2) he might easily commit perjury while testifying, and (3) he might say things under oath that would help Letitia James in her (vastly more important) case. So, Trump blinked.
Now that Cohen has gotten this out of the way, he is likely to be James' star witness. He knows firsthand that Trump manipulated the values of his properties. Trump often bragged to Cohen about what a great businessman he was for doing this. Trump's lawyers are going to point out that Cohen is a convicted felon and can't be trusted. Trump's problem is that James' case is before Judge Arthur Engoron, a judge with 20 years' experience on the bench. He is quite capable of making his own judgment about the quality and credibility of witnesses. There is no jury to delude, just an experienced judge who can't be led around by the nose. Cohen is clearly a huge threat to Trump since he is an eyewitness to Trump's crimes. That is why Trump wanted to scare him, but Cohen scared Trump by saying he wanted his lawyer to cross examine him. In principle, Trump could sue Cohen again, but if he does this after Cohen has testified against him, Cohen's lawyer is going to say that there is no basis to the suit and Trump just wants revenge for Cohen's testimony.
For what it is worth, Cohen's lawyer, Danya Perry, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. She was formerly deputy attorney general of New York State and also formerly an assistant U.S. attorney. As a prosecutor, she supervised the prosecution of hundreds of white collar crime cases, including a billion-dollar health-care fraud case. She put two corrupt but powerful state Assemblymen in prison. Later she was a professor of law at NYU. She is clearly one tough cookie. Trump tends to be afraid of smart and powerful women and probably was afraid to be deposed by her. (V)