Michael Cohen lost an appeal on Tuesday in his crusade to hold former President Donald Trump liable for his prison sentence on campaign finance violations and tax crimes.
Cohen was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to serve three years in federal prison. He was released early in 2020 during the early days of the COVID pandemic after having only served a year.
Cohen claimed that he was jailed because Trump had retaliated against him because he was writing a tell-all book about his former boss.
He sought to sue Trump, but the case was dismissed. Cohen appealed.
According to Politico, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled Tuesday afternoon not to revive the case.
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The judges agreed with a lower court ruling that existing laws do not “provide a damages remedy for most claims that someone was jailed in retaliation for their criticisms of a president,” Politico reported.
The dismissal is the end of the line for Cohen’s case.
Alina Habba, one of Trump’s current attorneys, celebrated the ruling in a comment obtained by The Hill.
“We are very pleased with today’s ruling. Mr. Cohen’s lawsuit was doomed from its inception,” Habba said.
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She added, “We will continue to fight against any frivolous suit aimed at our client.”
Habba has worked for Trump since late 2022 when the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago resort and private residence.
Cohen worked for Trump for years and had been referred to as the former president’s “fixer” who handled Trump’s family business in and out of court.
In recent years, Cohen has been a fixture on CNN where he has portrayed Trump as a danger to the democratic process.
After his release from prison, he released the memoir he claimed was used by Trump to send him to prison.
“Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” was released in September 2020.
“This book almost didn’t see the light of day as government officials tried to bar its publication,” a description of the book on Amazon claimed.
Trump recently referred to Cohen as a “proven liar” while he appeared in court for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil trial against his business.
In October, Trump was asked about Cohen’s decision to testify against him in the case.
“Well he’s a proven liar, as you know. He’s a felon who served a lot of time for lying, and we’re gonna just go in and see him,” Trump said, The Hill reported at the time.
