--- title: Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Hit with $282,000 in Back Taxes description: Donald Trump's Lawyer Michael Cohen, has been hit this month with more than $185,000 in new state warrants canonical: https://time.com/5261234/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-taxes-taxi-business/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-01T13:59:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:02.369Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Hit With $282,000 in Back Taxes og:description: New troubles for Trump's "fixer" og:url: https://time.com/5261234/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-taxes-taxi-business/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Hit With $282,000 in Back Taxes twitter:description: New troubles for Trump's "fixer" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Hit With $282,000 in Back Taxes for His Taxi Business > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Trump Was Asked About Pardoning His Lawyer. He Called It a 'Stupid Question' [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Was Asked About Pardoning His Lawyer. He Called It a 'Stupid Question'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Sr08dgVm.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2018-04-24. President Donald Trump refused to answer whether he would pardon his personal attorney, calling it a “stupid question.”_ by [Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg Contributor May 1, 2018 1:59 PM UTC  President Donald Trump's long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen exits a New York court on April 16, 2018 in New York City. President Donald Trump's long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen exits a New York court on April 16, 2018 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images by [Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg Contributor May 1, 2018 1:59 PM UTC Michael Cohen, already under pressure from a federal criminal investigation into his business and financial dealings, has been hit this month with more than $185,000 in new state warrants for unpaid taxes on his taxicab companies. Added to his previous tab, that brings the total to $282,000 owed to New York state by 16 taxi medallion-holding companies owned by Cohen or members of his family, including Mad Dog Cab Corp., Smoochie Cab Corp., Golden Child Cab Corp. and N.Y. Futon Taxi Corp. A lawyer for Cohen declined to comment. Cohen, a former Trump Organization Inc. executive, has been President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and has claimed to be a loyal “fixer” for his longtime boss. He claims he drew on a home-equity loan to pay $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, a porn actress who said she had sex with Trump in 2006, to buy her silence in the run-up to the 2016 election. Before he started working for Trump, Cohen built his wealth in the taxi business in New York and Chicago. Cohen claims the taxes are owed not by him but by Evgeny “Gene” Friedman, known in New York as “The Taxi King.” Friedman, who operated more than 800 cabs in the city, including Cohen’s, goes on trial in June on charges he pocketed more than $5 million in 50-cent fare surcharges that were supposed to benefit New York mass transit. Friedman’s lawyer says he’s innocent. ## Transcript [ CROSSTALK ] We're gonna be talking about it, we'll see, I mean people know my views on the Iran deal, it was a terrible deal, should have never, ever been made. We could have made a good deal, or a reasonable deal. The Iran deal is a terrible deal. If the Iranian's say they'll Restart their nuclear program. We'll find out. You'll find out about that. It won't be so easy for them to restart. Mr. President, are you- They're not gonna be restarting anything. They restart it, they're gonna have big problems, bigger than they've ever had before. And you can mark it down. If they restart their nuclear program, They will have bigger problems than they have ever had before. Mr. President, what about Michael Cohen? Are you [ INAUDIBLE ]? I thank you very much. [ INAUDIBLE ], make your way out. Let's go. Stupid question. 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