Bill Barr should get used to getting served with lawsuit papers.

While on holiday in Virginia former attorney general personal lawyer and Former Guy’s image consultant Bill Barr was served notice that’s he’s named defendant in a civil suit for trampling the rule of law.

No, not that time; or this time; or all those other times.

Michael Cohen’s civil suit deals specifically with Cohen’s treatment during the period of time when he was transitioning from prison to home confinement back in 2020. Multiple named-defendants pop up in this mob drama, including Barr, Casino Mobster as well as a number of lower-level pee-ons following orders.

Some of the reporting I’ve read lacks context so I’m gonna pull a few important threads.

Mob operation by any other name

Remind me: what was going on during summer of 2020? Oh right, a presidential election. Who would have motive (and opportunity) to stymie negative stories about his criming? donald trump.

In 2020, tfg’s former attorney Michael Cohen was nearing the end of his sentence for convictions related to campaign-finance violations and lying to congress. COVID had just begun to ravage the country. Cohen had also finished his book, “Disloyal,” and was tweeting teasers about its forthcoming release.

That was apparently too much for Trump Mafia.

Line No. 13 in Cohen’s complaint states that GEO Group—for-profit org working in private prisons/mental-health facilities, rife with scandal—was pushed aside and Feds took over Cohen’s transition.

To me this is a tell in the timeline: Who ordered the switch? Why was it necessary? Did GEO Group decline to execute this part of their plot?

(Writer’s note: GEO Group has seen myriad scandals involving fraud, abuse and other garden-variety criming but we’ll have to table that topic for another day. Why FBOP contracts with them is beyond me.)

Lured to courthouse under false pretenses

After FBOP took over, probation officer Adam Pakula told Cohen “no big, dude! just come down to the courthouse to sign some papers. we good!” (Cohen was cooperating throughout the process.)

The “paperwork” apparently was Federal Location Monitoring Program Participant Agreement (FLM), which had a very curious passage inserted:

Restraining prisoners on-release from promoting personal projects is totally out of the norm for FLMs. It was “prima facie violation of Mr. Cohen’s constitutional rights under the First Amendment,” Cohen’s complaint states, “as well as in retaliation for public comments and proposed publication of his tell-all book.”

Who wrote this clause, and on whose orders? Why did they feel the need to restrain “family and friends”? All answerable questions.

Anyways, from the moment Cohen tweeted his book teaser to returning to the courthouse a mere 7 days had passed.

Cruel, unusual and maybe criminal

And so. FBOP lured Cohen to the courthouse under false pretenses; tried to get him to sign an unconstitutional waiver (oddly congruent with Casino Mobster’s NDAs he had henchfolk sign, yes?); when Cohen questioned that waiver he was tossed in solitary for 16 days.

Read the complaint here and note that lots of other mob players are named as defendants, including Barr, TFG and a smattering of apparently complicit folks within our federal system who are supposed to be fighting for equal justice. I asked Cohen on Twitter if he’s laying breadcrumbs for future criminal charges and will report back if and when I hear anything.

With Trump fixer Michael Cohen about to flip, ‘taint team’ is even more relevant today

I’ve told a lot of jokes about “Says Who?” Michael Cohen (here and on Twitter) but he has seen the light and is fighting back against that transnational-criminal cartel.

Serial-fraud and credibly accused rapist donald trump spent 4 years abusing America so reading Cohen’s lawsuit is like a warm Calgon bath. I can’t be the only one who feels like Michael is fighting for all of us. ⚖

(Header credit: Robert Johnson via Twitter)

UPDATE (4 Jan 2022): Can’t get it out of my head that GEO Group was mixed up in Michael Cohen’s drama. Have a look at this news item from late 2020:

To my eye there’s a lot more to the story, but specifically, how GEO Group came to be “discharged” from handling Cohen’s home confinement. I wrote a Twitter thread today breaking all of it down and you can read it here. I have questions out to folks at GEO and will report back… Watch this space.

 

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Will Pollock is a perpetually cranky New York City escapee based in Midtown Atlanta. He’s a freelance multimedia journalist, media analyst and author of two books (award-winning Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way.

In 2001, Will earned his Masters from The Medill School of Journalism, graduating with highest honors from the magazine sequence. As permanent member of Journalism’s National Honors Society, he’s been active in monitoring, writing and blogging about media and journalism ever since he graduated.

Obsessed with good storytelling and journalistic excellence, Will uses snark, humor and reason to distill dumb shit and make it fun. He’s a seeker/maker of non-consensus news, and helps you cure crankies by finding the nut in every story.

As for-profit media continues to fail us, it’s more important than ever to find reliable sources. Authentic storytelling exists—you just have to look for it. On this blog you’ll get ideas, not ideology. Sass with class. Reporting with rapport. Evidence with a touch of evil. You get the idea.

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