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Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr likely assumed that his New Year’s Day vacation would be filled with events and occasions that were joyous and, more importantly, planned, but he has been hit with something he probably did not expect.
That would be a lawsuit from Michael Cohen, the former top lawyer for then-billionaire businessman Donald Trump.
The suit, according to Republic Brief, cites Barr for allegedly sending Cohen back to prison as retaliation for a ‘tell-all’ book he was writing at the time.
“This morning I was notified by my attorneys @lauferlaw @NYadvocateJKL that the process server successfully effectuated service on #BillBarr while he was vacationing in Virginia. This is the look they got…Happy New Year a**hole!” Cohen noted on Twitter in a post that included a photo of the former AG — a screengrab from a CBS interview.
This morning I was notified by my attorneys @lauferlaw @NYadvocateJKL that the process server successfully effectuated service on #BillBarr while he was vacationing in Virginia. This is the look they got…Happy New Year asshole! pic.twitter.com/MUupTXAxmt
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) December 30, 2021
The Republic Brief added:
Among Cohen’s claims in the lawsuit filed Thursday is that he was retaliated against for writing a tell-all memoir, arguing that his abrupt return to federal prison last year threatened his life and amounted to punishment for criticizing Trump.
The former attorney for President Donald J. Trump takes aim at his former employer in his memoir, Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney.
According to the lawsuit, Cohen has suffered severe physical and emotional harm, and his First Amendment rights have been violated. It has been filed in United States federal court in Manhattan.
Cohen has been on a lawsuit spree since serving a three-year sentence for a number of crimes including lying to Congress, tax evasion, and campaign finance violations.
In addition to Barr, Cohen has filed suit against his former boss, Trump, and others who he claims sent him back to prison as a means of retaliating against him for the book after he was released from lock-up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cohen had served about a year of his sentence when he was let out and confined to his home but he was sent back to prison within weeks after failing to accept new conditions of his release.
“As part of his second stint behind bars, he spent 16 days in solitary confinement. In a small prison cell that he left only 30 minutes a day, Cohen claims to have suffered shortness of breath, headaches, and anxiety,” Republic Brief reports.
Part of his condition for remaining free included having “no engagement of any kind” with the media and “no posting on social media.”
“For the next three months, Cohen remained in his Manhattan apartment, where he started posting on Twitter, using the hashtag #WillSpeakSoon to promote an upcoming tell-all book about his former boss,” Insider noted.
In July 2020, a federal judge ordered Cohen released and instructed the government to refrain from “any continuing or future retaliation against Cohen for exercising his First Amendment rights.”
Cohen’s legal team told Insider their client’s First Amendment rights were violated and that are working to address what they view as a dangerous legal precedent.
“Unless the government and others are held accountable for their retaliation and unconstitutional remand back to prison of Michael Cohen, illegal actions akin to what happened here can continue to persist as a weapon,” attorney Jeffrey K. Levine told the outlet.
He added that if left to stand, it is a precedent that can be used to curb others’ free speech rights in the future.
In addition to Trump and Barr the suit also names Michael Carvajal, the current Bureau of Prisons director who was appointed by the former AG. The claim seeks $20 million in damages from the government.