(New York) A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of former lawyer and Donald Trump's henchman, Michael Cohen, who was reincarcerated for writing a highly critical book about the president according to his lawyer, a version contested by the authorities.
Posted on 23 July 2020 at 11 h 06 Updated at 14 h 46
France Media Agency
Sentenced in December 53 to three years in prison, in particular for having bought the silence of two former mistresses presumed to be Donald Trump, the lawyer of 53 years had been taken into detention in May 2018.
He was then released on 21 last May, a federal judge acknowledging that his medical history made him a person at risk complications in the event of coronavirus contamination.
He was to pay the balance of his sentence at his home in Manhattan, until his term at the end of November 2021.
On July 9, he was nevertheless imprisoned again, on the grounds that he had “rejected the conditions of his house arrest”, the Federal Bureau of Prisons had indicated, without giving further details.
According to his advisor, lawyer Lanny Davis, the sentencing service had made the possibility of serving his sentence at home conditional on a ban on writing a book.
But the former handyman of Donald Trump is working on a book project on the president, according to Lanny Davis.
Asked by AFP, the Bureau of Prisons said Thursday that the detention of Michael Cohen had nothing to do with this book project.
The main human rights organization in the United States, the ACLU, went to court on Monday with Michael Cohen to challenge the detention.
The association asked the question of knowing “if the government (could), in accordance with the Constitution, revoke the release of a prisoner on the grounds that he (had) not renounced his right to criticize the president ”.
Such a condition, “which would personally benefit a president candidate for re-election, (would) challenge the rule of law in a way unprecedented in the history of this country”, argued Lawyers Defending American Democracy , another organization supporting the ACLU in the proceedings.
Ruling in summary proceedings on Thursday, a federal judge in Manhattan ordered the release of Michael Cohen on Friday.
He called the decision to send the lawyer back to prison as “retaliation”, according to statements at the hearing cited by the New York Times .
The book, “very unflattering for the President of the United States”, according to the summons, is expected to be published before the next presidential poll, scheduled for November 3.
The book mentions in particular “anti-Semitic remarks made by Donald Trump when talking about Jewish personalities as well as racist thoughts when talking about Barack Obama or Nelson Mandela”, according to the same document.
For the prison service, it was more the refusal of the lawyer to wear an electronic bracelet that led to his reincarceration.
Michael Cohen also refused to sign the document recording his house arrest and “sought to dictate the conditions of his follow-up”, according to a statement from the Prison Office, in particular to benefit from access to the media and networks social.
Asked by AFP on a possible appeal of the decision, a spokesman for the Manhattan federal prosecutor, who is behind the lawsuits against Michael Cohen, declined to comment.
