The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Michael Cohen to revive a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump and various former federal officials of returning him to prison in 2020 in retaliation for penning a book critical of Trump, who was president at the time.
Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, had appealed a lower court's dismissal of his suit, which sought monetary damages from Trump, former US attorney general William Barr, federal prison officials, and the federal government. Cohen's suit accused them of violating his rights under the US Constitution by restricting his free speech and subjecting him to an illegal seizure and cruel and unusual punishment.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to multiple federal felonies, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He was released in May 2020 amid the COVID pandemic but was abruptly thrown back in prison two months later after questioning an agreement that barred his book's publication, communicating with the media and social media.
A judge ordered Cohen's release 16 days later, finding he had been targeted with retaliation.