A federal appeals court denied Michael Cohen‘s bid on Tuesday to revive a lawsuit against Donald Trump, which accused the ex-president of using the powers of the federal government to throw him back in prison.
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, contends that the former president, then-Attorney General Bill Barr, and other Justice Department officials violated his constitutional rights when he was thrown back into jail after speaking critically of Trump in a tell-all book.
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The former president’s ex-lawyer previously failed to convince a lower court judge that the lawsuit should stand and allow him to seek damages and a remedy for his claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit agreed with that judgment on Tuesday.
Cohen was first sentenced to prison in 2018 after he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress. He wrote the tell-all book recounting his experience with Trump while incarcerated.
“We are very pleased with today’s ruling. Mr. Cohen’s lawsuit was doomed from its inception. We will continue to fight against any frivolous suit aimed at our client,” Trump attorney Alina Habba told the Washington Examiner.
In May 2020, Cohen was released from jail for a brief period due to the pandemic’s impact on the prison population. A federal judge said in July 2020 that Cohen should return to home confinement. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit that claimed Cohen was sent back to prison in retaliation by Trump’s DOJ for his book.
Habba argued in a December hearing that Cohen received a remedy when he was released from prison, and she also argued that Cohen failed to present evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in the decision to send Cohen back to prison. Cohen was released from prison in November 2021.
Cohen sued in December 2021, arguing that his rights were violated by the Trump administration. A federal judge dismissed the claims in November 2022.
The appellate court ruling on Tuesday can still be appealed to the Supreme Court, a move that Cohen’s attorney Jon-Michael Dougherty signaled is likely in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“While we are of course disappointed in the 2nd Circuit’s ruling, our consistent expectation has been that this novel issue involving the appropriate remedy against a rogue president who seeks to use the prisons to silence his personal critics would need to be addressed by the United States Supreme Court,” Dougherty said.
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Cohen’s attorney argued his client is entitled to a “Bivens remedy,” citing a 1971 Supreme Court precedent that refers to a lawsuit for damages when a federal officer acting under the color of federal authority allegedly violates a person’s constitutional rights.
“We look forward to taking the fight for Americans’ right to speak freely about their government without fear of imprisonment to the highest court in the land,” Dougherty added.
