On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to revive Michael Cohen’s lawsuit seeking damages for retaliation during his prison sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cohen’s lawsuit comes after the former Trump “fixer” began serving his sentence for federal election finance crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to health reasons that would be exacerbated by the virus, Cohen\u2019s prison term was furloughed, and he was temporarily sent to home confinement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials later ordered him back to prison after he raised issue with a release condition asking him to waive his ability to criticize then-President Trump<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A federal judge ruled to release Cohen again and said the former president\u2019s ex-fixer suffered unconstitutional retaliation for wanting to critique Trump on social media and in a book. However, the judge later dismissed Cohen\u2019s claim for damages over the incident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hill reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs it stands, this case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can lock away critics of the executive without consequence,\u201d Cohen wrote in his request<\/a> for the justices to hear his case. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Trump attorney Alina Habba said\u00a0in the former president\u2019s\u00a0brief<\/a>\u00a0to the court that Cohen\u2019s complaint is \u201centirely devoid of merit.\u201d She also added a question over whether Cohen\u2019s claim is barred by presidential immunity, which the justices declined to weigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cohen testified as a star witness in the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s criminal case against his former boss, which ended in a conviction in May, and took the stand in an earlier civil fraud trial against Trump and his business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n