Michael Cohen has been sent back to prison over refusing conditions of his house arrest, authorities say

• Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, was taken back into custody on Thursday after being granted an early release from prison in May.
• Cohen was furloughed due to COVID-19 concerns and permitted to serve the remainder of his three-year sentence under house arrest.
• The Bureau of Prisons told Business Insider in a statement that Cohen "refused the conditions of his home confinement," but did not elaborate.
• The New York Times reported that the reason was related to his refusal to sign documents imposing conditions on his book-writing and media appearances.
• He was also recently spotted dining at a restaurant in Manhattan, an apparent violation of the terms of his early release.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney who has been under house arrest completing a three-year prison sentence, has been taken into custody again, the Bureau of Prisons told Business Insider.

"Today, Michael Cohen refused the conditions of his home confinement and as a result, has been returned to a BOP facility," the agency said in a statement.

Cohen was granted furlough and released from prison on May 21 due to COVID-19 concerns, and was placed on house arrest for the duration of his sentence.

It's unclear what violation in particular that Cohen was accused of making, but The New York Times reported Thursday that Cohen had declined to sign documents related to conditions on his writings and media appearances.

His arrest also came just days after Cohen was spotted dining at a Manhattan restaurant, apparently in violation of the terms of his early release. According to the Bureau of Prisons, inmates are not permitted to leave "the area of his/her furlough without permission."

Photos obtained by The New York Post showed Cohen dining at Le Bilboquet, a French bistro on the Upper East Side, alongside his wife and two others.

Cohen has been serving time for tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign-finance violations, and lying to Congress. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2018, which stemmed from his role in paying hush money to two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump years ago.

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