This archive report was first published on 21 May 2020.
Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer, will be released from a federal prison on Thursday on furlough, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. The decision comes after Mr. Cohen requested release over health concerns tied to the coronavirus.
According to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter, it is expected that Mr. Cohen will serve the balance of his sentence under home confinement. However, a final decision on this matter had not been made as of Wednesday.
Prisons and jails across the country have been hot spots for the spread of the virus. In April, Attorney General William P. Barr ordered the prisons bureau to determine which federal inmates could be safely released to home confinement. As of May 13, more than 2,500 inmates had been released, according to bureau data.
Mr. Cohen was serving a sentence related to his admission of participating in a scheme to pay hush money to two women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump before he was president. Mr. Trump has denied these allegations.
Mr. Cohen's lawyer, Roger B. Adler, had previously requested his client's release, citing health concerns. Mr. Adler stated that his client 'has had two hospitalizations, and a pre-existing condition of pulmonary issues.'
Mr. Adler expressed his pleasure at the news, stating that he looked forward to his client being reunited with his family.
Mr. Cohen's release comes a week after Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's onetime campaign chairman, was released into home confinement in Northern Virginia due to underlying health conditions and concerns about the virus.
