Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has released a foreword to his new book in which he calls the president "a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man," and accuses him of cheating in the presidential 2016 election.

Mr Cohen also makes reference to "golden showers in a sex club in Vegas," without specifically stating that the president took part in such acts, and alludes to "catch and kill conspiracies to silence Trump's clandestine lovers."

"Apart from his wife and children, I knew Trump better than anyone else did," Mr Cohen wrote in the foreword to the book 'Disloyal,' which was released on Thursday.

"In some ways, I knew him better than even his family did because I bore witness to the real man, in strip clubs, shady business meetings, and in the unguarded moments when he revealed who he really was: a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man," he added.

The Independent contacted Donald Trump's campaign for comment.

The foreword alone contains several serious allegations against the president. Mr Cohen claims that the investigation into the Trump campaign's links to Russia was "not a waitch hunt," and that his former boss willingly accepted the help of Russia.

"Trump had cheated in the election, with Russian connivance, as you will discover in these pages, because doing anything-and I mean anything-to 'win' has always been his business model and way of life," he wrote.

"Trump had also continued to pursue a major real estate deal in Moscow during the campaign. He attempted to insinuate himself into the world of President Vladimir Putin and his coterie of corrupt billionaire oligarchs. I know because I personally ran that deal and kept Trump and his children closely informed of all updates," he wrote.

Cohen, who previously described himself as Mr Trump's personal "fixer", was handed a three-year prison sentence for lying to Congress and campaign finance violations involving hush money to women who have claimed to have had affairs with the president. He was released in May to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

Trump's attorneys tried to block the release of the book, claiming Cohen had signed a non-disclosure agreement that prohibited him from talking about his work with the now-president.

While he was behind bars, Cohen - while seeking home detention - wrote that he was an "enabler" for the Trump Organisation, lured by its "magnetic, charismatic and powerful" figurehead.

In a six-page sworn affirmation filed in a US District Court in December, Cohen said that everything he "thought was important and valuable has been painfully revealed as derived" from a "Faustian bargain" in which he cast the president as the Devil, to whom Cohen "sold his soul" and "foolishly frittered away his integrity" on behalf of the president.

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