Former Attorney General William Barr isn’t used to being on the receiving end of bad legal news, but that’s exactly what happened today when he was served with a summons at his home in McLean, Virginia.
The summons is part of a lawsuit filed by former Trump attorney/fixer Michael Cohen, who alleges that Barr and ex-President Trump violated his First Amendment rights in 2020.
Specifically, according to Law & Crime, Cohen alleges that Barr had him placed in solitary confinement when it became known that he was writing a tell-all book:
Donald Trump’s former fixer turned critic Michael Cohen sued the former president, ex-Attorney General Bill Barr and other members of the previous administration on Thursday for sending him back to prison last year for 16 days of solitary confinement in alleged retaliation for writing a book.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in July of 2020 that it was clear the DOJ under Barr’s instructions, wanted to silence him, writing:
“I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, and it’s retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others.”
Word that Barr had been served came from Andrew Laufer, an attorney for Cohen, who noted that Barr was “wearing shorts and did not appear happy.”
I can confirm service of process was perfected personally upon the former attorney general William Barr this morning at his home in McLean, Virginia. At the time of service, Mr. Barr was wearing shorts and did not appear happy. @MichaelCohen212 @NYadvocateJKL
— Andrew C Laufer, Esq (@lauferlaw) December 30, 2021
Cohen also confirmed that Barr had been slapped with the summons, doing a bit of celebrating on Twitter:
This morning I was notified by my attorneys @lauferlaw @NYadvocateJKL that the process server successfully effectuated service on #BillBarr while he was vacationing in Virginia. This is the look they got…Happy New Year asshole! pic.twitter.com/MUupTXAxmt
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) December 30, 2021
