Judge orders Michael Cohen to be released from prison again
NEW YORK - A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for writing a book about Trump.
Michael Cohen's First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said.
Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison by 2 p.m. on Friday.
Cohen, 53, sued federal prison officials and Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because he was writing a book to be released before the November presidential election.
He has been in isolation at an Otisville, New York, prison camp.
Cohen had been granted early release from the federal prison in Otisville, New York, about 80-miles north of his Manhattan apartment and was allowed to serve the rest of his sentence at his Manhattan apartment instead of the medium-security correctional facility due to concerns about coronavirus.
He was photographed having dinner at a Manhattan restaurant and was taken into custody.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 for bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress.
He had been President Trump's loyal lieutenant who said he'd take a bullet for him. But then Cohen flipped.
He told Manhattan federal prosecutors that Trump directed him to pay hush money to keep adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal quiet about their alleged affairs with the president.
And to special counsel Robert Mueller's team, Cohen also admitted to misleading Congress about the president's Russian business pursuits during the 2016 campaign. That had the president taking to Twitter to call Cohen a rat.
U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III, who sentenced Cohen, rejected a plea for Cohen to be released early because of the pandemic but coronavirus-relief legislation passed by Congress gave prison officials the authority to release inmates on their own.
Cohen's original release date was Nov. 22, 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.