Donald Trump made ‘racist remarks’ against Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, says ex-lawyer Michael Cohen
- Lawsuit claims Justice Department is trying to stop president’s former personal lawyer from publishing book on his experiences with Trump
- Cohen says he was put back in prison after authorities sought to make him sign document agreeing not to speak to or through any media
US Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department are doing everything they can to prevent Michael Cohen from publishing a book that claims President Donald Trump made “virulently racist remarks” about Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, according to a new lawsuit.
Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawsuit, claims in the suit filed late Monday that Barr and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) are violating his First Amendment rights. The lawsuit provides new details on the haphazard effort to take Cohen back into custody on charges of campaign finance violations, bank fraud, lying to Congress and other crimes.
Prison officials had released Cohen to furlough – a more permissive form of home confinement – in May due to the risk of catching coronavirus in prison. But once Cohen began tweeting “#WillSpeakSoon” and teasing his book, Trump and the Department of Justice did everything they could to lock him back up, the suit says.
“US Probation Officers, working on behalf of the BOP, presented Mr Cohen with an unconstitutional demand: as a condition of his release – a release BOP already had determined was necessary to protect Mr Cohen’s health – he had to agree to a complete bar on speaking to or through any media of any sort, including via a book,” the suit states.
The book “describes Mr Cohen’s first-hand experiences with Mr Trump, and it provides graphic details about the president’s behaviour behind closed doors,” the suit reads.
