Judge believes Michael Cohen committed perjury, will not terminate supervised release

A federal judge on Wednesday denied Michael Cohen’s request to end his supervised release early after finding the former fixer for Donald Trump likely “committed perjury” in past testimony.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan also decided to sanction Cohen for providing his lawyer with fake case citations generated by artificial intelligence, labeling the incident as “embarrassing.”

Cohen, who admitted guilt in 2018 to campaign finance violations and tax evasion and served time in prison, is expected to testify against Trump in the upcoming criminal trial in Manhattan.

Trump, who denies 34 criminal charges related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, has consistently portrayed Cohen as a habitual liar.

The citations to non-existent cases produced by Cohen through Google Bard, a generative text service, were included in a filing to terminate his supervised release.

Despite the erroneous citations, Judge Furman found no evidence of malice and chose not to impose sanctions on Cohen or his lawyer, David Schwartz.

The use of fake citations generated by AI has been criticized in the legal community, with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts cautioning against such practices.

In his attempt to end his supervised release early, Cohen argued that his recent testimony displayed his remorse and commitment to abiding by the law, though Furman disputed this claim.

Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, welcomed the judge’s decision to not prosecute Cohen for perjury, while Perry, another lawyer involved in the case, disagreed with Furman’s assessment of Cohen’s testimony.

The ongoing legal battle between Cohen and federal prosecutors highlights the complexities of using AI in legal proceedings and the importance of upholding ethical standards.