Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen freed from house arrest, sends ‘warning’ to ex-boss
Ex-President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is a free man after completing a three-year sentence – and has cast a warning seemingly directed at his old boss.
Cohen, 55, walked out of a federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Monday morning after finishing a split sentence including 13 months in federal prison and 18 months under house arrest.
He told reporters who were waiting that his release did not ‘negate’ his crimes which he said he committed under Trump’s orders.
‘I will continue to provide information, testimony, documents and my full cooperation on all ongoing investigations to ensure that others are held responsible for their dirty deeds and that no one is ever believed to be above the law,’ Cohen said.
Cohen, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer, turned on the ex-president after he was arrested in 2018. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress in 2018. Cohen the following year testified before Congress about possible collusion between Trump and Russia in the 2016 presidential election, angering the ex-president, who called him a ‘rat’.
On Monday after completing his sentence, Cohen said: ‘I feel great today. It’s been long overdue.’
‘The official end to the #CohenConfinementCountdown,’ Cohen tweeted, including a photo of a court document. ‘This is what freedom finally looks like!’
Cohen also criticized prosecutors, the Department of Justice and the judge who sentenced him.
‘My release today… also does not negate the behavior of the Justice Department, (then Attorney General) Bill Barr, the Southern District of New York prosecutors, Judge William H Pauley III or Donald himself in my initial incarceration and prosecution,’ Cohen said.
As Trump’s fixer, Cohen navigated various scandals for him including alleged affairs with adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her silence as Trump was running for president in 2016. He wound up serving jail time for that.
Cohen was held at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, and was under house arrest at his upscale apartment in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
‘I am extremely close and I am extremely thankful that I will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving out of my home,’ Cohen said.
Cohen has published a best-selling book titled Disloyal: A Memoir, about his time serving Trump.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.