The Trump administration denied Wednesday that it has returned Michael D. Cohen to prison in retaliation for his decision to publish a revealing book about his former boss, the president.
The government said in recently filed court documents that the decision to send Mr. Cohen, a former repairman and attorney for President Trump, back to prison earlier this month after he was released by a federal employee of the Bureau of Prisons. That employee had no idea that Mr. Cohen was writing a memo, according to the newspapers.
Instead, Mr. Cohen jeopardized his own freedom by becoming “combative” by refusing to sign an agreement outlining the terms of his release, the government said. The deal “was not devised by anyone in BOP or the executive branch, let alone a high-level official with no reason to avoid publication of” Mr. Cohen’s book, according to the newspapers.
The new filing came in response to a lawsuit that Mr. Cohen filed Monday against Attorney General William P. Barr and the director of the Bureau of Prisons, demanding that he be released and allowed to fulfill the remainder of his conviction in home confinement.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Cohen claimed that the government had violated his First Amendment rights by returning him to custody in what he said was retaliation for his book project, making it impossible for him to complete the manuscript.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Manhattan Federal District Court set a hearing on the matter for Thursday.
Mr. Cohen’s lawsuit has garnered the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has teamed up with private attorneys to help him represent him, as well as legal experts.
This week, a group of constitutional law professors presented a report on the case, saying they were “deeply concerned at the blatant disregard for the First Amendment rights and values displayed in Mr. Cohen’s treatment.”
Cohen, 53, pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating financial finances and other crimes, stemming from a plan to pay money to two women who said they had had relationships with Trump before becoming president. Trump has denied the allegations.
Mr. Cohen had been serving a three-year sentence in a minimum security prison camp in Otisville NY, about 75 miles northwest of New York City.
He said in his lawsuit that he had been writing his book “on demand” in a prison library in Otisville and had discussed it with other inmates, prison officials and staff members.
The lawsuit says the book will include “Mr. Cohen’s first-hand experiences with Mr. Trump” and “graphic details about the President’s behavior behind closed doors.”
“The narrative punctually describes certain anti-Semitic comments against prominent Jews and virulently racist comments against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela,” according to the lawsuit.
The book was tentatively titled “Unfair: The Real Story of Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Donald J. Trump,” the lawsuit said.
Then, in May, Mr. Cohen, whose lawyers have said he has severe hypertension and respiratory problems, was released on license as part of an effort by the Bureau of Prisons to curb the spread of the coronavirus at his facility. He continued to work on his project at home and publicized it as well, announcing plans to publish the book in late September, before the election.
On July 9, Mr. Cohen was abruptly sent back to prison after refusing to sign an agreement that would have allowed him to stay home if he agreed not to publish the book for the duration of his sentence. His planned date of release from prison is November 2021.
“The timeline here clearly indicates retaliation,” the lawsuit said.
But in its response, the government described Mr. Cohen’s behavior as he met with probation officers to consider the deal “challenging” and “unacceptable”.
The government claims that Mr. Cohen told officers he was going to write a book “no matter what.” He also opposed a provision restricting his employment, asking if he could appear “as a political correspondent on television or radio,” the government filing said.
He added that Mr. Cohen also told an officer to “salute Mr. Barr.”
Since his return to prison, Mr. Cohen has been held in solitary confinement for most of the day, making it impossible for him to complete his book, according to the lawsuit.
The government responded in its presentation that Mr. Cohen was isolated after being returned to Otisville under a policy that says new inmates are in quarantine for approximately two weeks before they are allowed to enter the general prison population.
The coronavirus test should be done on Friday, the government said, adding: “He is free to work on his book while incarcerated.”
