Michael Cohen arrives at court in New York. Photo / AP
Michael Cohen arrives at court in New York. Photo / AP
A federal judge today gave lawyers for Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, a little more than two weeks to finish reviewing material seized from his office and residences to determine what is protected by lawyer-client privilege.
The June 15 deadline was set during a hearing in Manhattan that focused on the status of these seized materials and featured sparring between Cohen's lawyers and Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress to whom Cohen paid US$130,000 after she alleged she had an affair with Trump.
Avenatti had sought to join the case but withdrew his motion after US District Judge Kimba Wood warned that Avenatti would have to end his "publicity tour" if she granted him standing.
Avenatti did not elaborate on his decision in his motion to withdraw, noting that he could refile it "if necessary, at a later time," depending on what happens with Daniels' motion to intervene in the case. That motion has been held pending discussions between Avenatti and federal officials, according to court records.
Avenatti pointed to that motion, rather than the judge's scepticism in explaining why he suddenly withdrew.
"It is no longer necessary in light of the motion to intervene, which may not be necessary, being delayed," Avenatti wrote in an email. "We will refile it when and if the motion is taken up."
Cohen, who attended the hearing but did not speak, is being investigated for possible bank and wire fraud and campaign finance violations as part of a probe looking at his efforts to suppress damaging stories about Trump - such as Daniels' claims of a sexual encounter with him years earlier - just before the 2016 presidential election.
As part of the probe, federal agents seized Cohen's records and documents on April 9, prompting a legal fight over who would get access to the materials and when.
Cohen and Trump both argued that their lawyers should get to review the materials to see what is privileged before investigators get them. Wood appointed Barbara Jones, a former federal judge, as special master to go over the documents before they are turned over to federal prosecutors.
Jones wrote in a filing that after her reviews so far, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has been given access to more than 292,000 items, and more than 1 million items "not designated privileged or highly personal" were expected to be released today.
Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels. leaves Federal Court, in New York. Photo / AP
Lawyers for Cohen and Trump had said many of the seized documents and records could be protected by lawyer-client privilege. Jones noted that so far, only 252 items had been flagged as privileged by lawyers for Trump or Cohen, and she said she expected to make a recommendation about those materials by next Tuesday.
Jones also reported having received additional electronic data over the past two weeks, including "data from a video recorder, two computers, and mobile storage devices" that "includes various video, electronic communications and documents as well as data typically associated with computer usage."
A significant amount of material still needs to be reviewed. In court yesterday, Todd Harrison, a lawyer for Cohen, said his team had received 3.7 million files, about 1.3 million of which had already been turned over to Jones.
Harrison argued against a mid-June deadline, saying that "we are moving heaven and earth" to rapidly complete a privilege review. He said his firm had 17 people evaluating the materials, which came from 13 mobile devices and 19 other digital-media devices.
Michael Cohen and his attorney "should release all of those audio recordings to the American people and to Congress" - Michael Avenatti reveals Cohen has tapes that could relate to Trump: pic.twitter.com/tMJpTMFNS7
— The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC 📺 (@TheBeatWithAri) May 30, 2018
"We have people who are working all night," Harrison said. "We have people who are sleeping on couches."
Wood was not persuaded, dismissing Cohen's concerns and those of a lawyer for the Trump Organisation who argued that a faster pace might degrade the review.
Rachel Maimin, an assistant US Attorney, said her office was still trying to access files from two Blackberry devices, which Cohen believed belonged to his wife nearly a decade ago, and the contents of a shredding machine. This material, she said, would be turned over to Cohen's team as soon as possible.
Wood set the June 15 deadline for lawyers for Cohen, working with lawyers for Trump and his company, to determine what is privileged and turn it over to the special master. Anything not sent to Jones by that date gets handed over instead to a "taint team" of prosecutors who are not part of the investigation into Cohen and would work to determine what is covered by privilege.
Special Master says only .01% of Michael Cohen's "items" are privileged. That's really, really small. 3 notes: 1. The denominator is probably inflated by mundane texts, like "I'm buying milk," "Let's go smoke cigars so we can look like buffoons," or "I'm selling an election." https://t.co/kXtmIZl8An
