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Michael Cohen was initially released to the home in May
The former attorney for President Trump will return to his home confinement after a judge ruled that he was sent to jail in retaliation for writing a revealing book.
Michael Cohen had been released in May over concerns by Covid-19 after a three-year sentence on charges including Trump campaign finance violations.
Authorities this month had said Cohen resisted the terms of his confinement.
Cohen argued that his new arrest was retaliation for his plans to publish a critical book about Donald Trump.
He said that probation officers had asked him to sign a release agreement that would prohibit him from speaking through any media. When he questioned this order, he was arrested again.
US Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued the ruling during a telephone hearing on Thursday.
He said Cohen’s return to prison was “in retaliation for his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others.”
The Manhattan judge added that, in 21 years on the bench, he had never seen such an arrangement for a prisoner. “How can I take any other inference that is not retaliation?”
Cohen was arrested again on July 9, days after he tweeted that he was “close to completing” his revealing book related to the president. The book reportedly details the alleged racist comments made by Trump.
This week, Cohen had sued United States Attorney General William Barr and the director of the prison office for the so-called “gag order.”
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The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Cohen and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), alleged that Cohen’s new prison on the order violated his constitutional right to freedom of expression.
According to court filings, Cohen’s book would provide “graphic and unflattering details about the president’s behavior behind closed doors,” including descriptions of his “clearly anti-Semitic comments and virulently racist comments” against former President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela.
The White House has yet to comment on these allegations.
Prosecutors argued Wednesday that Cohen had been combative during the discussion and questioned almost every aspect of the home confinement agreement, US media reports.
The judge ordered prosecutors and Cohen to renegotiate their terms of confinement within a week.
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The two men represented in 2016
Cohen temporarily accepted the current confinement order so that he can return home immediately, his lawyer said, according to Reuters.
The 53-year-old man will be released home this afternoon, local time, from Otisville federal prison after a Covid-19 test.
“Today’s major ruling recognizes that people retain their right to speak even when they are incarcerated,” said ACLU attorney Vera Eidelman.
Cohen has served one year of his three-year sentence.
The former repairman admitted to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow, and campaigning for financial infractions for his role in making silent payments to women who allege issues with Trump. He also admitted other charges of tax and bank fraud not related to the President.
The Justice Department previously declined to comment on the matter.
