A federal judge has approved Michael Cohen’s request to move back the date he must report to prison.
Cohen, President Trump’s former longtime lawyer and fixer, was scheduled to report to prison March 6.
U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley III on Wednesday granted Cohen a 60-day reprieve, and Cohen must now report to prison on May 6.
Cohen’s lawyer, Michael Monico, wrote a two-page letter to the judge asking for the extension so that his client could recover from shoulder surgery and testify to Congress.
“Defendant makes the request because he recently underwent a serious surgical procedure and he needs to undergo intensive post-surgical physical therapy and be monitored by his physician for recovery,” the letter said, noting that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York did not object to a one-time extension.
Monico also cited Cohen’s upcoming testimony to three congressional committees and the “substantial time” needed to prepare for the hearings as other reasons to push back the surrender date.
Last week, Cohen postponed testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, citing “post-surgery medical needs.” Cohen had been scheduled to appear before the committee Feb. 12.
He had planned to testify the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 8, but that was pushed back until Feb. 28. The delay was the second instance in which a date had been scrapped.
A third hearing with the House Oversight Committee was planned for early February but was postponed last month due to “ongoing threats” by Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. That hearing has not yet been rescheduled.
Cohen pleaded guilty in December to a handful of crimes, including illegal campaign contributions, lying to Congress, and bank fraud.
