Less than 1 percent of the files FBI agents seized from Michael Cohen fall under attorney-client privilege, his defense team said Monday.
Cohen’s lawyers made the announcement in a court filing in the Southern District of New York, where Cohen, the former personal attorney for President Trump, is fighting how his files are handled by federal prosecutors.
According to the defense team of Todd Harrison and Stephen Ryan, they have designated roughly 12,000 files out of 4 million as “privileged,” as guided by the attorney-client privilege and attorney-client product doctrine — just 0.3 percent.
FBI agents raided Cohen’s office, hotel, and home on April 9, producing information in a series of documents beginning on April 26 and ending June 15. The information turned over was from 13 cellphones and iPads, hard copy documents and 20 external hard drives, flash drives, and laptops.
Cohen’s business dealings are under federal investigation.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood has also appointed a former federal judge to help decide which of the seized materials are protected by attorney-client privilege and thus should be off-limits to federal investigators.
