Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen expected to leave prison for home confinement
Send a link to a friend
[July 24, 2020]
By Tom Hals
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's
former lawyer Michael Cohen will return to his Manhattan apartment on
Friday to finish his criminal sentence after a judge found he was
imprisoned two weeks ago as retaliation for planning to publish a book
about Trump.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Cohen to be released by 2
p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) from a prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles
(110 km) northwest of New York City.
In May, Cohen was furloughed from prison because of concerns about the
spread of coronavirus.
On July 9, Cohen and his attorney met with prison officials to convert
his furlough to a home confinement to finish out the final two years of
his three-year sentence. After Cohen questioned a media provision that
barred him from publishing the book, engaging with news organizations
and posting on social media, officials shackled him and returned him to
prison.
Hellerstein said at Thursday's court hearing that he had never seen such
a gag provision in his 21 years on the bench.
"I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from
furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and it's
retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights
to publish a book," Hellerstein said at Thursday's hearing.
Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, was sentenced
in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy
Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had
affairs with Trump
[to top of second column]
|
Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for U.S. President Donald
Trump arrives at his Manhattan apartment after being released from
federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence under home
confinement in New York City, New York, U.S., May 21, 2020.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
The president has denied having the encounters and has called Cohen
a "rat."
On July 2, Cohen tweeted he was close to completing a book and he
anticipated publishing it in September. At the time of his May
release, he tweeted that “there is so much I want to say and intend
to say. But now is not the right time. Soon.”
In court papers, Cohen said the book will contain his experiences
and observations from the decade he worked for Trump and had a
relationship with him and his family, including both before and
after he became president. Cohen said it would provide "unflattering
details" of Trump's behavior.
Even as he turned on Cohen, Trump has repeatedly voiced his support
for loyal former allies.
A day after Cohen was sent back to prison, Trump commuted longtime
friend and adviser Roger Stone's prison sentence for lying under
oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016
U.S. election.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|