Michael Cohen can use social media, talk to reporters, and publish tell-all book on house arrest

(Image credit: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

published 30 July 2020

President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen will have a lot more freedom as he remains on house arrest.

Cohen, serving a three-year sentence, was released from prison to house arrest in May due to coronavirus concerns, but was taken back into custody in early July. He has since been released again, and scored another win Thursday when the U.S. government dropped its attempt to block him from publishing a tell-all book about Trump.

Cohen was sent back to prison in early July after he was spotted dining out during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the government saying he had violated the terms of his release. Cohen then sued Attorney General William Barr, contending the government was retaliating against him for writing a book about Trump to be released before Election Day. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in Cohen's favor last week and ordered him to return to home confinement.

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Still, a condition in Cohen's home confinement agreement barred him from using social media, talking to the media, appearing on TV, and publishing his book. The Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons decided to drop that provision in a Thursday filing, saying "a specific provision" regarding Cohen’s “contact with the media is not necessary." The government will no longer question Hellerstein's release ruling, it also said.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.