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Michael Cohen Sues U.S., Trump Over Alleged Book Retaliation

Michael Cohen Sues U.S. Over Alleged Retaliation for Book

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen sued the U.S. government and Donald Trump for revoking his home confinement in alleged retaliation for publishing a book. 

The lawsuit, which also names former Attorney General William Barr as a defendant, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Cohen says the efforts to quash the book was “one instance in a long line of retaliatory measures” taken by Trump, his family and associates, “in the weaponization of his administration against his enemies” -- noting attempts to stop similar books by John Bolton and Trump’s niece Mary.

Cohen finished his three-year prison sentence last month. He was initially released to home confinement in May 2020 until the Bureau of Prisons briefly reincarcerated him at Otisville Correctional Facility in upstate New York when he refused to sign an agreement that would have prevented him from speaking to the media or publishing the book.

Representatives for the Justice Department and Trump didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the government to return Cohen to home confinement, saying that his transfer back into custody was “retaliatory in response to Cohen desiring to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book critical of the president and to discuss the book on social media.”

The case is Cohen v U.S., 21-cv-10774, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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