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Michael Cohen Will Return to Prison Over Home-Confinement Rules Michael Cohen Returned to Jail in Dispute Over Trump Book
(about 4 hours later)
Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer, was taken back into federal custody on Thursday after being furloughed from prison in May, federal officials said. Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer, was in good spirits on Thursday when he arrived at a Manhattan federal courthouse, where he expected to complete routine paperwork related to his home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Today, Michael Cohen refused the conditions of his home confinement and as a result, has been returned” to a federal Bureau of Prisons facility, the bureau said in a statement. Mr. Cohen, who was released from prison in May on a medical furlough, was stunned when probation officers asked him to sign a document that would have barred him from speaking to reporters or publishing a book during the rest of his sentence, his legal adviser said.
The bureau’s statement did not elaborate on what specifically Mr. Cohen had done, but one person briefed on his legal status said he had refused to sign papers agreeing to certain conditions related to media appearances and writing books. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information about the case. Mr. Cohen, believing the agreement violated his First Amendment rights, refused to sign it, the adviser, Lanny Davis, said. Less than two hours later, federal marshals stepped out of an elevator with handcuffs and took Mr. Cohen back into custody.
Mr. Cohen, 53, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes, was released from federal prison on May 20 on furlough and allowed to return to his home. He had asked to be released over health concerns related to the coronavirus. Mr. Cohen’s return to jail was the latest twist in a case whose dizzying ups and downs have prolonged the legal woes of a man who once said he would take a bullet for Mr. Trump and later implicated the president in federal crimes.
He had been serving a three-year sentence at a minimum-security camp next to a medium-security federal prison and detention center in Otisville, N.Y., about 75 miles northwest of New York City. In a statement, the federal Bureau of Prisons said that Mr. Cohen had been returned to jail after he “refused the conditions of his home confinement.”
Before he was freed on furlough, Mr. Cohen was projected to be released from prison in November 2021, according to the prison bureau. He had sought an earlier release because of what he said were medical conditions that might be worsened by the virus’s spread in prison. As a federal inmate, the bureau said in a separate statement, Mr. Cohen must comply with bureau policies, including requirements that he consent to electronic monitoring and obtain approval for any media interviews.
The federal crimes that Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to were connected to a scheme to pay hush money to two women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump before he was president. Mr. Trump has denied the allegations. Last week, Mr. Cohen said on Twitter that he anticipated releasing a book in late September. Mr. Davis said on Thursday that the book was ready for publication and would recount Mr. Cohen’s experiences working for Mr. Trump for years.
Roger B. Adler, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen, said on Thursday that he was taken “taken aback” when he heard that Mr. Cohen had been taken into custody. Mr. Cohen testified before Congress last year that he had previously turned down a deal worth around $750,000 to sell a book about his time working for Mr. Trump that was tentatively titled, “Trump Revolution, From the Tower to the White House, Understanding Donald J. Trump.”
“It’s my hope that it’s a misunderstanding of some kind that can be promptly resolved,” Mr. Adler said. As part of his home confinement, probation officers asked Mr. Cohen on Thursday to agree to a long list of conditions, including a prohibition against speaking to reporters, posting on social media and publishing any books.
Mr. Cohen was photographed on July 2 having dinner at a sidewalk table outside Le Bilboquet, a French restaurant near his Park Avenue apartment, according to the New York Post, which published the photograph. Mr. Cohen told the officers that he had been talking to reporters while he was in prison, Mr. Davis said.
Regarding the photograph of Mr. Cohen dining out, Mr. Adler said his client believed he was allowed to do so under the terms of his release. Mr. Adler said he was “unaware of any conduct” by Mr. Cohen “which would have warranted interfering with his medical furlough.” After Mr. Cohen refused to sign the agreement, the probation officers said they would try to work out a resolution, Mr. Davis said.
Mr. Cohen and another of his lawyers, Jeffrey Levine, waited about 90 minutes, Mr. Davis said. Then three federal marshals appeared to arrest Mr. Cohen with no warning.
At that point, Mr. Davis said, Mr. Cohen relented and agreed to sign the document to avoid going back to jail. The marshals continued to take him into custody anyway, Mr. Davis said, with one of them saying, “It’s out of our hands.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Cohen was brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail in Brooklyn, according to a person briefed on his legal status. Another defendant currently housed there is Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Ms. Maxwell was arrested last week.
Mr. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes, was released from federal prison on May 20 on a medical furlough and allowed to return to his home. He had asked to be released because, he said, he had medical conditions that might be worsened by the virus’s spread in prison.
It was expected that after finishing the medical furlough, he would serve the balance of his sentence under home confinement, abiding by a strict set of rules. But a final decision on that had not been made, officials said.
Before his release, Mr. Cohen had been serving a three-year sentence at a minimum-security camp next to a federal prison and detention center in Otisville, N.Y., about 75 miles northwest of New York City. He was scheduled to complete his sentence in November 2021.
The federal crimes that Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to were connected to a scheme to pay hush money to two women — a former adult film actress and a former Playboy model — who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump before he was president.
During his guilty plea in August 2018, Mr. Cohen pointed the finger at the president, telling the court that Mr. Trump had directed him to make the hush payments for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has denied the allegations.
Ben Protess and Benjamin Weiser contributed reporting.