ACLU Lawsuit Alleges Michael Cohen Sent Back To Prison Over Book About Donald Trump

KEY POINTS

The ACLU and a separate law firm filed a lawsuit over Michael Cohen being returned to prison after being released to serve his sentence in home confinement in May due to the coronavirus pandemic
The lawsuit alleges Cohen was returned to prison over a book he was working on about his former client, Donald Trump, due for release before the 2020 election
Attorney General William Barr and the warden at the federal prison Cohen is being held were named as defendants in the case

The American Civil Liberties Union and a separate law firm have challenged the legality of Michael Cohen's recent reincarceration, alleging in a lawsuit that Donald Trump’s former attorney was sent back to prison because of his plans to release a book on the president ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

The lawsuit was filed Monday and names Attorney General William Barr and James Petrucci as the defendants. Petrucci serves as the warden of the Federal Correctional Institute in Otisville, New York, where Cohen was imprisoned.

Cohen was convicted in 2018 on multiple charges of tax evasion, campaign finance law violations and lying to Congress. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released in May because of health concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. He was set to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement until he was returned to prison on July 9.

The lawsuit argues Cohen was working on a book about his tenure as Trump's "fixer," and his return to prison is another example of the Trump administration trying to “censor” criticism against the current president. Cohen was asked to sign a document that would have prevented him from speaking with reporters or publishing a book for the rest of his sentence. He declined.

“The First Amendment forbids respondent from imprisoning Mr. Cohen in retaliation for drafting a book about the president and for seeking to publish that book soon,” the lawsuit said. “The government's effort to exercise prior restraint over Mr. Cohen's book is only the latest in the Trump administration's efforts to censor speech that reflects negatively on Trump himself or his administration.”

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons denied the allegations, saying Cohen's return to prison was rooted in problems with his home confinement.

“Michael Cohen refused the conditions of his home confinement, and as a result, has been returned to a BOP facility,” a bureau spokesperson said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has not commented on the lawsuit.