Just 162 Of Michael Cohen’s Seized Documents Covered By Attorney-Client Privilege — Out Of 300K
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Only a tiny fraction of the documents seized from President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen and reviewed by a court-appointed official are protected by attorney-client privilege, according to a court filing on Monday.
Barbara Jones, the court-appointed special master reviewing the documents, said in the filing in Manhattan federal court that out of 291,770 items found on two phones and an iPad, she agreed with lawyers for Cohen, Trump or the Trump Organization that 148 were privileged.
Jones said that out of 639 items found in eight boxes of hard-copy materials, she agreed that 14 were privileged.
Lawyers for Cohen, Trump and the Trump Organization could not immediately be reached for comment. The office of the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, which is investigating Cohen for possible crimes related to his business dealings, also could not be reached.
Monday’s report covered only a small part of the materials seized by authorities in raids on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room in April. Todd Harrison, a lawyer for Cohen, said at a court hearing last week that his firm had received about 3.7 million files.
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