Michael Cohen loses appeal in quest to revive his retaliation lawsuit against Trump

Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, had sued Trump, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and other Justice Department officials for allegedly violating his constitutional rights when he was thrown back into prison after speaking critically of Trump.

A lower court judge ruled against Cohen, saying that Supreme Court precedent doesn’t allow him to pursue damages as a remedy for his claims. Tuesday, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

Cohen, the appeals court wrote, was able to quickly get an injunction at the time releasing him from prison to home confinement, an action sufficient to meet his claims.

During a hearing last month, Trump attorney Alina Habba argued that Cohen’s remedy was having been released from prison and she argued the judge’s tersely worded decision at the time allowing that release would serve as a deterrent. Habba also argued that despite the claims, Cohen hasn’t provided evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in the decision to send Cohen back to prison.

“The complaint itself does not have facts that Trump did it. It’s a Michael Cohen assumption,” she said.

Cohen’s lawyer Jon Dougherty argued that his lawsuit was needed to hold Trump and other presidents to account.

A “remedy of damages provides necessary deterrence so presidents cannot use prisons as a threat against their critics,” Dougherty told the court, adding, “We are that most unusual circumstance.”

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