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Trump ex-lawyer Michael Cohen gets quick court hearing on prison release bid after suing Attorney General Barr

  • July 21, 2020

A federal judge Tuesday quickly granted President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen a hearing on his lawsuit seeking his release from prison.

He was returned to a cell after refusing to agree not to publish a damning book about Trump while serving a criminal sentence in home confinement.

The hearing on Cohen’s request for a temporary restraining order will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

If granted, Cohen could be sprung, for the second time in two months, from the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y.

“This case is about a brazen assault on the First Amendment and the rule of law, said Danya PerryCohen’s lawyer for the suit.

“We trust that our Constitution will prevail and that free speech will continue to be protected, for our client and for all others by extension.”

The Justice Department, which is defending the suit, had no immediate comment.

Cohen, 53, was in the midst of serving a three-year sentence when he was released from Otisville in late May due to concerns that the Manhattan resident’s pulmonary health issues put him at elevated risk from the coronavirus.

He had pleaded guilty in 2018 to financial crimes, lying to Congress about a planned Trump Tower in Moscow, and to campaign finance crimes related to hush money payments to two women who claim to have sex with Trump, who denies their allegations.

On July 9, Cohen and his lawyer appeared at U.S. Probation offices in Manhattan to review the conditions of his home confinement, which would include electronic location monitoring.

Cohen’s lawyer Jeffrey Levine has said that they were surprised to be presented at that meeting with restrictions that would bar Cohen from speaking to news reporters or to posting on social media during his release, as well as from publishing a book.

Cohen soon after was taken into custody, without warning, by Bureau of Prison personnel, and shipped back to Otisville, despite saying he would agree to the restrictions, Levine has said.

The bureau has said Cohen was remanded to prison after refusing to sign the agreement.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/21/ex-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-gets-court-hearing-on-prison-release.html

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