President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is alleging in the manuscript of a tell-all book that the president has made racist comments about former President Obama and the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Attorneys for the president’s former ally filed a petition late Monday seeking Cohen’s immediate release from jail. The petition, which was also filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleges that Cohen was brought back to prison in retaliation for a book that he is writing about his tenure working for Trump.
The Monday filing states that “Mr. Cohen’s book describes Mr. Cohen’s first-hand experiences with Mr. Trump, and it provides graphic details about the President’s behavior behind closed doors.”
“For example, the narrative describes pointedly certain anti-Semitic remarks against prominent Jewish people and virulently racist remarks against such Black leaders as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela,” the filing states.
“Mr. Cohen has also publicly stated that the book will be unfavorable, including descriptions of Mr. Trump — as Mr. Cohen made clear during his Congressional testimony — as ‘a cheat, a liar, a conman, a racist,’ and more,” the filing continued.
The Monday petition was filed against Attorney General William Barr, Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and James Petrucci, the warden of the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., where Cohen is being held.
“He is being held in retaliation for his protected speech, including drafting a book manuscript that is critical of the President — and recently making public his intention to publish that book soon, shortly before the upcoming election,” the Monday petition states.
The petition argues that Cohen’s imprisonment violates his First Amendment rights. Cohen was brought back into federal custody following a dispute with probation officers over his home confinement agreement, which blocked him from speaking with the media, which includes publishing a book.
The filing states Cohen tweeted about publishing the book before the Bureau of Prisons presented the terms of the agreement. It also states that staff at Otisville confirmed to Cohen “that they were aware that he was writing a book.”
The working title of the book is “Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump,” The Washington Post reported.
Cohen was rearrested on July 9 after being released to home confinement in May over health concerns amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The president’s former attorney is serving a three-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to federal charges of fraud and campaign finance violations in 2018. He also admitted to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow.
Cohen testified before lawmakers against Trump in February 2019.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.