Washington [US]: Former US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) scored two big legal victories with one lawsuit dropped and another dismissed. A New York judge granted Trump’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen against the Trump Organization and in another defamation lawsuit by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, agreed to drop her claims, according to the court filing, reported CNN. The legal wins for Trump come as the former President’s activities during the final days of his presidency continue to haunt him, as he navigates numerous criminal investigations and business challenges linked to the Capitol riot on January 6. Zervos had sued Trump in 2017 after he denied allegations that he had sexually assaulted her. A judge had recently ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in the case by December 23. Cohen sued the Trump Organization in 2019, seeking reimbursement of legal fees and saying that after he began cooperating with federal investigators, the company failed to fulfill its contractual obligations to indemnify him or pay his legal bills relating to his work for the firm. In a statement announcing Zervos was dropping her suit, her attorneys wrote, “Today the parties have ended Zervos vs Trump. After five years, Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint and has accepted no compensation,” reported CNN. In another win for Trump, New York Judge Joel Cohen granted Trump’s motion to dismiss Michael Cohen’s 2019 lawsuit against his company, reported CNN. “Cohen’s legal fees arise out of his (sometimes unlawful) service to Trump personally, to Trump’s campaign, and to the Trump Foundation, but not out of his service to the business of the Trump Organization, which is the only defendant in this case,” Judge Cohen wrote in his order. In July 2017, according to the lawsuit filed in the New York State Supreme Court, the Trump Organization agreed to indemnify Cohen and to pay his attorneys’ fees and costs in connection with related investigations.
