A 70-year-old woman who has been both a federal judge and a prosecutor has been chosen to be the first to review what the FBI seized from Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer for President Trump.
U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Judge Kimba Wood said in court Thursday that she will appoint Barbara Jones to be “special master” in the case.
Lawyers for Cohen and Trump had wanted a special master, and the Justice Department had conceded Thursday in a Thursday court filing that it was “prepared to withdraw our objection to the appointment of a Special Master” to review the materials the FBI seized from Cohen in the April 9 raid.
Jones — who was not among the names proposed by Cohen’s defense lawyers or federal prosecutors — was appointed to the federal bench in the Southern District of New York by Former President Bill Clinton in 1995 and served until 2012.
Federal prosecutors had wanted a “taint team,” or a group of independent prosecutors not part of the Cohen case, to review the materials first.
Since 2013, Jones has worked at Bracewell LLP, where she “focuses her practice on corporate monitorships, compliance issues, internal investigations and arbitrations and mediations.”
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was part of the firm from 2005 — when it was known as Bracewell and Giuliani — until he left in January 2016.
As special master, Jones will have a first look at the materials, and determine what is protected by attorney-client privilege and thus off-limits to federal prosecutors.
According to a reporter the courtroom, the federal government seized eight boxes of documents from Cohen, and seven boxes’ worth have been scanned and will be shared with his defense team.
Other types of Cohen evidence includes hard drives, iPads and cell phones.
— Stephen Brown (@PPVSRB) April 26, 2018
Also seized in the raids on his home, apartment and hotel room includes hard drives, iPads and cell phones.
