U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of New York argued Thursday President Trump’s comments during a “Fox & Friends” appearance earlier in the day suggested most of the records seized in an FBI raid of his personal attorney’s office are unlikely to be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Members of Trump’s legal team are set to arrive back in court Thursday afternoon as part of their continued effort to limit the access federal investigators have to records belonging to Michael Cohen, the president’s embattled personal attorney. The meeting between federal prosecutors and Trump attorney Joanna Hendon will be overseen by U.S. District court Judge Kimba Wood, who is presiding over the Cohen case.
Cohen told Wood earlier this month he has provided counsel to three clients in the past year, including the president and Fox News firebrand Sean Hannity, who has denied ever officially retaining the Manhattan-based attorney for legal assistance. Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News on Thursday morning that Cohen has only ever performed a “tiny, tiny little fraction” of his entire legal work.
“These statements by two of Cohen’s three identified clients suggest that the seized materials are unlikely to contain voluminous privileged documents, further supporting the importance of efficiency here,” federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing submitted after the Fox News segment.
Attorneys with the Southern District were prevented from sorting through the thousands of documents, emails and bank records obtained during the raid on Cohen’s office and hotel room after his lawyers insisted on being able to review the material before it is turned over to the prosecution.
Wood previously suggested she would appoint a reputable attorney with no interest in the case, known as a “special master,” to carry out the process of deciding which materials are privileged and which are fair game.
Federal prosecutors previously objected to requests that a neutral attorney review the documents, but on Thursday said they would support the appointment of a special master if the attorney conducts a “technology-assisted review” of the materials found in Cohen’s office.
“Each party would have an opportunity to make submissions [to the special master], including any information necessary to help him identify any privileged or non-privileged material,” the prosecutors wrote. “This reasonable compromise procedure will fully honor the attorney-client privilege while ensuring the efficient completion of the privilege review in a matter that recognizes the important law enforcement interests at stake.”
Trump’s comments on TV Thursday morning were not just helpful to federal prosecutors. Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing adult actress Stormy Daniels in her case against Cohen, called the president’s remarks “another gift from the heavens.”
“I don’t know how I’ve fallen into such good luck in this case, but I’m going to take it,” Avenatti said.
