WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was released from federal prison Thursday to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons in March and April to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates, beginning at three prisons identified as coronavirus hot spots.
The Bureau of Prisons placed Cohen on furlough as it continues to process a move to home confinement, another person familiar with the matter said.
A federal judge had denied Cohen’s attempt for an early release to home confinement after serving 10 months in prison and said in a ruling earlier this month that it “appears to be just another effort to inject himself into the news cycle.”
The Bureau of Prisons said last week that more than 2,400 inmates had been moved to home confinement since Barr first issued his memo on home confinement in late March, and 1,200 others had been approved and were expected to be released in the coming weeks.
