Ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen gloats as Bill Barr is served with legal papers: ‘Happy New

Michael Cohen has announced that his lawyers turned up at the house of former Attorney General Bill Barr to serve him with a lawsuit – claiming that Donald Trump retaliated against him.

In the lawsuit, filed on Thursday, Cohen, who was once Mr Trump’s private lawyer, alleges that the former president retrospectively enacted revenge against him for writing a tell-all memoir.

Cohen took to Twitter to reveal the news, signing off his Tweet by saying “Happy New year a*****e” to the former Attorney General.

As was first reported by The Daily Mail, the suit was filed in Manhattan’s federal court, and it sees Cohen seek damages for “extreme physical and emotional harm” caused by Mr Trump.

It is claimed that much of the animosity between the men stems from Cohen’s explosive book: Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump – which savages the 75-year-old.

The disbarred attorney has recently been released after serving a three-year prison sentence, the length of which he accuses his former boss of inflating in a bitter act of revenge.

He reported to prison in May 2019 but was released to home confinement after 11 months due to Covid-19.

Federal authorities abruptly ordered him back to prison just a few weeks later, claiming he failed to accept certain terms of his release. Cohen, however, argues that he merely sought clarification on the conditions of his release.

The 55-year-old claims that the second spell behind bars started with 16 grueling days in solitary confinement. During this time, Cohen says he suffered from shortness of breath, severe headaches and anxiety inside a cramped cell that he left for just 30 minutes a day.

“It’s just apparent what happened here. This is political retribution,” Andrew Laufer, Cohen attorney, told Courthouse News . “They violated my client’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against him, and we intend on seeking compensation for it.”

He added: “This is just part and parcel of what the Trump administration represented.”

Cohen hasn’t shied away from speaking up on several separate entanglements involving the former president and his extended family.

Back in February 2019, during testimony given to Congress, the former fixer admitted that Mr Trump inflated and deflated his own assets.

This is now the subject of a New York civil investigation into possible financial fraud by the Trump Organisation.