Michael Cohen, the former lawyer to Donald Trump, was returned to prison because he refused to agree to agree to electronic monitoring and other restrictions as part of his planned home confinement _ not because he's writing a book critical of the president, the U.S. told a judge.
Cohen, who had been released on furlough as a result of the pandemic, was "antagonistic" during his meeting with the Bureau of Prisons earlier this month and complained about other restrictions such as a prohibition on grocery shopping, the Justice Department said in a filing challenging Cohen's petition for release.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan scheduled oral arguments for July 23 on Cohen's emergency motion to be returned to home confinement. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in August 2018 to crimes tied in part to his work for Trump, sued on Monday with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, accusing Attorney General William Barr and Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal of using a false justification to lock him up.
Cohen claims he was returned to prison after the U.S. discovered he planned to write a book about Trump ahead of this year's election.
The Bureau of Prisons said in a separate filing that Cohen is in quarantine to protect the inmate population from the coronavirus, and that he will be tested for the disease on July 24 and released into the general population if he is negative. Cohen has complained that he's locked in solitary confinement as retaliation for his planned book.
