The Trump administration denied today that it had returned Michael Cohen to prison in retaliation for his decision to publish a jailhouse tell-all book about his former boss, the president.

The government said in newly filed court papers that the decision to send Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, back to prison earlier this month after he had been released on furlough was made by a federal Bureau of Prisons employee. That employee had no idea that Cohen was writing a memoir, the papers said.

Instead, Cohen endangered his own freedom by becoming “combative” when refusing to sign an agreement outlining the terms of his release, the government said.

The new filing came in response to a lawsuit Cohen filed Monday against Attorney General William Barr and the director of the Bureau of Prisons, demanding that he be released and allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.

In the suit, Cohen asserted the government had violated his First Amendment rights by returning him to custody in what he said was retaliation for his book project, making it impossible for him to complete the manuscript.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of U.S. District Court in Manhattan has set a hearing on the matter for Thursday.

Cohen, 53, pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes, stemming from a scheme to pay hush money to two women who said they had had affairs with Trump before he was president. Trump has denied the allegations.

Cohen had been writing his book while serving a three-year sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Otisville, New York.

Then, in May, Cohen, whose lawyers have said he has severe hypertension and respiratory issues, was released on furlough as a part of an effort by the Bureau of Prisons to curb the spread of coronavirus in its facilities. He continued to work on his project at home.

On July 9, Cohen was abruptly sent back to prison after he balked at signing an agreement that would have allowed him to remain home if he agreed not to publish the book for the duration of his sentence. His projected release date from prison is November 2021.

“The timeline here clearly indicates retaliation,” the lawsuit said.