Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump walks back to his apartment in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., May 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yana Paskova
A federal judge ordered Michael Cohen released from prison and found that the DOJ imprisoned Cohen as retaliation for his upcoming book on Trump.
The New York Daily News reported:
In a virtual court hearing, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein fumed at a Justice Department attorney who struggled to explain why Cohen was returned into custody earlier this month after objecting to home confinement conditions that barred him from writing a book about Trump, speaking to journalists or using social media.
“I’ve never seen such a clause. In 21 years of being a judge … I’ve never seen such a clause,” Hellerstein said. “How can I take any other inference than that it was retaliatory?”
….
“I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from home confinement to jail is retaliatory, and it’s retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book,” he said.
Cohen has a First Amendment right to publish a book about Trump. If Barr shows up at the House Judiciary Committee hearing where he is supposed to testify next week, he is going to face some intense questioning about why the DOJ tossed Michael Cohen back in prison because he wrote a book about Trump.
Michael Cohen is living proof that Trump is serious about throwing his political critics and enemies in prison. He did it to try to silence Michael Cohen, so it would be wise to not dismiss as out of hand his calls to throw James Comey, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and others behind bars.
Never underestimate the undemocratic and authoritarian impulses of Donald Trump.
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