NEWARK, N.J. _ Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was informed about allegations of sexual misconduct by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman around 2013, according to a letter filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday.
An attorney, Peter Gleason, submitted a letter to the court Friday explaining that two women had come to him a half-decade or more ago with complaints that they were "sexually victimized" by Schneiderman. Gleason said he counseled against reporting the allegations to Manhattan's district attorney based on his past experiences with political corruption cases.
Gleason says he discussed the women's allegations with a retired New York Post journalist, Stephen Dunleavy, who offered to discuss the matter with Trump. "Mr. Dunleavy did indeed discuss this very matter with Mr. Trump as evidenced by a phone call I received from attorney Michael Cohen," Gleason wrote to the judge.
"During my communications with Mr. Cohen I shared with him certain details of Schneiderman's vile attacks on these two women," Gleason wrote.
Schneiderman's lawyer, Isabelle Kirshner, declined to comment.
Gleason submitted the letter to the judge overseeing the handling of files and records seized by the FBI last month from Cohen's residences, office and electronic devices. He requested a protective order to seal all correspondence that Cohen may have had about the women, in part to protect their identities as assault victims.
Schneiderman and Trump have publicly feuded since the New York Attorney General's Office sued Trump University, claiming Trump defrauded students in a case that was settled in 2016 for $25 million.
Schneiderman resigned on May 8, three hours after The New Yorker printed an article detailing how four women, two of whom it identified, accused him of physical violence. The resignation followed years of legislative and legal advocacy by Schneiderman for women's rights, including protecting women from physical and sexual abuse.
