Supreme Court will not revive Michael Cohen’s lawsuit against Trump, alleging retaliatory prison time

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Michael Cohen, who wanted to hold his former boss, ex-President Donald Trump, accountable for an imprisonment he said was retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir.

The justices did not detail their reasoning in the brief, routine order issued just over two weeks before Election Day when Trump is running for another term.

Cohen had asked the high court to revive a lawsuit rejected by lower courts. Those judges ruled that the law generally does not allow people to seek damages for allegations that they were imprisoned for criticizing a president, and that the situation was resolved when Cohen was released.

Cohen’s lawyer, Jon-Michael Dougherty, said the ruling “signals a dangerous moment in American democracy” and raises questions about the right to free speech.

Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said the Supreme Court rightly rejected Cohen’s petition and that “he must finally abandon his frivolous and desperate claims.”

Cohen filed a lawsuit after his early release from prison was quickly overturned.

Cohen was serving time after pleading guilty in 2018 to charges related in part to paying hush money to porn actor Stormy Daniels to avoid harming Trump’s 2016 presidential bid.

Cohen said Trump ordered the hush money to be paid, a claim that later became a key part of the New York trial where Trump was convicted this year.

The former president has denied any wrongdoing.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty and had served more than a year when he was released in 2020 as authorities worked to contain the coronavirus outbreak in federal prisons.

But he was returned to prison a few weeks later after authorities said he had not agreed to certain conditions of his release. Cohen said he asked if a condition barring him from speaking with the media and publishing his book could be removed.

He served 16 days in solitary confinement before being released again on the orders of a judge who said he was imprisoned in retaliation for his desire to publish a book critical of the president and chat on social networks.

Cohen sued Trump and William Barr, then the attorney general, as well as various prison and probation officials.