Michael D. Cohen will now be able to finish his revealing book on President Trump after the government said Thursday that it had given up a legal battle to prevent it from expressing itself on television, social media, or in books while serving. a prison sentence at home.
The government, writing to a federal judge in Manhattan, said it would not question a ruling last week that cleared the way for Cohen, who was once Trump’s attorney and arranger, to publish a memoir about his former boss before the election. . .
The government said it had agreed to omit a condition in Mr. Cohen’s home confinement agreement that would have prohibited him from any contact with the media, including posting on social media, appearing on television or publishing a book.
Federal prosecutors wrote to the judge that the government had agreed with Cohen’s attorneys that “a specific provision” regarding “Cohen’s contact with the media is not necessary.” They also said they would not continue to litigate or appeal the judge’s decision.
Cohen was released from prison in May due to the coronavirus and was expected to serve the remainder of his three-year sentence at his home, but authorities sent him back to prison after he refused to sign the agreement.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Federal District Court ruled last Thursday that the decision to return Mr. Cohen to prison amounted to retaliation by the government and ordered that he be released again at his home.
“I concluded that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from home leave and confinement to prison is retaliation,” said Judge Hellerstein. “And it is retaliation for your desire to exercise your First Amendment rights to publish a book and discuss anything about the book or anything else you want on social media and with others.”
Mr. Cohen has said that his book, in which he had been working in the prison library while serving his sentence in a minimal security prison camp in Otisville, New York, will give an insight into his “first-hand experiences with Mr. Trump. “
In a lawsuit, Mr. Cohen said his book would paint Mr. Trump as racist and offer revealing 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,” the lawsuit said.
Mr. Cohen’s attorney, E. Danya Perry, declined to comment Thursday; The Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment. James Margolin, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Manhattan, said: “We will let the office’s presentation speak for itself.”
Cohen, who once boasted that he was going to be shot by Trump, pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance breaches and other crimes.
When he filed his guilty plea, Cohen implicated the president, telling the court that Trump had ordered him during the 2016 election to secretly arrange money payments to two women who claimed they had had relationships with Trump. The president has denied those allegations.
