The Supreme Court will not revive Michael Cohen’s lawsuit against Trump claiming retaliatory prison

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Michael Cohen, who wanted to hold his former boss and ex-President Donald Trump liable for a prison sentence that he said was retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir.

The justices did not detail their reasoning in the brief order, as is customary.

Cohen had asked the Supreme Court to revive a lawsuit brought by a New York judge who found the law generally did not provide damages for most claims that someone was jailed in retaliation for criticism of a president.

An appeals court upheld the dismissal, ruling that Cohen had already received relief when a judge ordered his release from prison to home confinement.

Cohen served more than a year of a three-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to tax evasion, campaign finance charges and lying to Congress. He said Trump instructed him to arrange the payment of hush money to a porn actor to avoid damage to his 2016 presidential bid. Trump has denied all allegations.

Cohen was released early as authorities tried to contain the coronavirus outbreak in federal prisons, but returned to prison weeks later. Authorities alleged that he had not accepted certain conditions of his release. Cohen said he had asked that a condition banning him from speaking to the media and publishing his book be removed.

He spent 16 days in solitary confinement before being released back to house arrest on the orders of a judge who said he was jailed in retaliation for his desire to publish a book critical of the president and discuss it on social media.

Cohen sued Trump and then-Attorney General William Barr, along with several prison and probation officials.