Cohen Asks the Supreme Court to Let Him Sue Trump Over His Imprisonment
The New York Times
For decades, the court has been reluctant to allow lawsuits against individual federal officials. Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-nemesis believes he has found an exception.
Former President Donald J. Trump is riding a winning streak at the Supreme Court. Michael D. Cohen, his fixer-turned-nemesis, is looking to break it.
Mr. Cohen on Wednesday asked the court to let him sue the former president over claims that he violated his constitutional rights, an issue that stems from Mr. Cohen’s stint in prison during the height of the pandemic.
Mr. Cohen had been released for health reasons in 2020, but the Trump administration brought him back to prison after he announced plans to write a scathing book about Mr. Trump. Ultimately, a federal judge ordered his release and rebuked the Trump administration for its “retaliatory” action.
Mr. Cohen then sued Mr. Trump and other federal officials, a case that has gained significance after the former president’s pledges to seek retribution and prosecute political enemies. Lower courts dismissed the lawsuit early on in the case, setting up Wednesday’s request that the Supreme Court take it up and send it back for a trial.
“As it stands, this case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can lock away critics of the executive without consequence,” Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, Jon-Michael Dougherty, wrote in the filing to the Supreme Court. “That cannot be the law in the country the Founders created.”
It is just the latest case involving Mr. Trump to land at the Supreme Court’s doorstep, renewing scrutiny of the court’s favorable treatment of the former president.
