I’m at Manhattan federal court for this today! Michael Cohen will be there! And Stormy Daniels! And Trump lawyers! I’m about to lose my phone but will tweet when out, stay tuned!
OK finally free to tweet the juicy bits from the Michael Cohen hearing and OMG that was dramatic, it was like an episode of... I have no idea of court room drama since Ally McBeal, but it was juicy. First here’s story w @chrisgeidner on what happened buzzfeed.com/amberjamieson/…
So there was at least 50 people (journalists and members of public) in line waiting to get in an hour before the hearing even started. There were dozens of cameras waiting outside. Michael Cohen walked past our waiting line at 1:05pm, but doesn’t respond to shouted qs.
We got into manhattan federal courtroom (same courtroom as fri) and Cohen arrived at 1:50, wearing a cornflower blue tie and looking nervous. He and his lawyers shook hands with attorneys from the US Attorneys Office. The courtroom was PACKED.
All the press in the center, who can see the door, are craning their heads looking for Stormy Daniels, whose lawyer said on CNN yesterday that she’d be here. Every time someone walks in, everyone turns. 2pm, time for the hearing to start, and she’s still not there.
There’s also only one empty chair in the whole courtroom. Finally after lots of whispering, a staffer brings in a chair. A woman gets asked to move. And then at 2:05, Stormy walks in! She’s with her lawyer and they sit in the newly available spot.
She’s in a lilac linen pencil skirt suit. There is much dispute between journalists over the color. Blush? Pink? Purple? Lavender? It is lilac and I knew it was from the start.
At 2:10pm judge Kimba Wood arrives and things get underway. Cohen’s lawyers announce that Steve Ryan, who’s been Cohen’s lawyer for the Russia probe, is here and also acting on behalf of him. Trump’s lawyers, and a lawyer on behalf of the Trump organization is also here.
So the first big question, which remains a question all day, is what roughly is the volume of the documents (and privileged documents) seized from Cohen’s home and office. No one can say.
Tom McKay from the US attorneys office says less than 10 boxes of physical documents were taken, plus hard drives “that’s where you’re going to see the real volume”, cell phones and the contents of computers.
The US Attorneys office lawyer notes that the criminal investigation into Cohen focuses on his “private business dealings and personal financial dealings”
McKay is trying to argue that a taint team (US attorney office lawyers not associated w the investigation) should be used cause he says that is standard protocol and that this is “a run of the mill case”
McKay also argued that Cohen’s team were pushing “toxic partisan politics of the day and attacks on the impartiality of US Attorneys Office” and notes that the president made “inflammatory” comments about the case.
“The only thing that marks this case as unusual, in any respect, is that one of Mr Cohen’s clients is the president,” said McKay, arguing that the president has the same right to attorney client privilege as anyone else - and no more.
Then it’s onto discussing how many clients Michael Cohen has (remember he refused to announce the third client name in his filing this morning). This is where things got super wild!
The judge noted that it was “not in accord with the law in this court” for Cohen to not name one if his clients. His lawyer Steve Ryan notes it’s a “publicly prominent individual” and that “at this point, no one would want to be associated” w Cohen and this case
The judge asked “what is the legal ground” and Cohen’s lawyers tried to argue that it they were trying to respect the clients wishes and “simply trying to respect privacy”
To justify not announcing Cohen’s client, his lawyer Steve Ryan argues: “I think this will affect people’s willingness to consult an attorney.” Cue open laughter in the courtroom.
The judge then orders Cohen to release the name. “Hence I rule it must be disclosed publicly now,” she said.
When Cohen’s lawyer announce his client is SEAN HANNITY, aka infamous Fox News host, there are gasps and laughter. Journalists immediately start running out of the courtroom.
I have no idea what happened for several minutes after that cause who could possibly concentrate after the Hannity news
Then Cohen’s lawyer Todd Harrison starts rebutting the governments argument that this is just a “run of the mill” case. “That’s just not correct. We’re talking about an unprecedented raid of the office and home of the sitting president’s personal attorney,” he said.
Cohen’s lawyer argued that the added scrutiny on the case made “the appearance of fairness” even more important.
“Fifty percent of America thinks this investigation is unfair, the other 50 think it’s a great idea,” said Harrison.
👀
“Fifty percent of America thinks this investigation is unfair, the other 50 think it’s a great idea,” said Harrison.
👀
Oh there was one lol moment I just remembered.
Cohen’s lawyer jokingly says “we’re good people,” after criticism from the Attorneys office.
The judge drags him. “It’s not that you’re not good people. It’s that you’ve miscited the law at times.”
Cohen’s lawyer jokingly says “we’re good people,” after criticism from the Attorneys office.
The judge drags him. “It’s not that you’re not good people. It’s that you’ve miscited the law at times.”
Trump’s lawyer gets up to say that Trump wants access to review all material involving him (which is presumably a lot of documents since he was Cohen’s main client)
“How much time a week can your client devote to this job?” asks the judge.
Cue more laughter
“How much time a week can your client devote to this job?” asks the judge.
Cue more laughter
Trump’s lawyer notes YES it will take a long time to sort through all the documents and create a privilege log of documents, but that’s cause the gov used a search warrant and took lots.
“The fact it’ll take time is not to be held against the privilege holder,” she said
“The fact it’ll take time is not to be held against the privilege holder,” she said
Trumps lawyer Joanna Hendson says since Trump has attorney client privilege on documents that have been seized, he should have access to them and that she is “asking for the president to have the opportunity to protect this sacred privilege”
Trump’s lawyer said having the US Attorneys office decide which of the president’s documents were privileged was “government overreach.”
“The government has given every reason to believe they are not equipped for this job,” she said.
“The government has given every reason to believe they are not equipped for this job,” she said.
(sorry briefly had to do a radio interview w @3RRRFM in Australia about the madness of today, am back now)
Anyway, back to court. There's a discussion about exactly who can pick out privileged documents the quickest. The US attorneys office say they'll only want relevant ones so they'll be quicker. Cohen team says they'll know who everyone else is so they'll be quicker.
The Trump Organization lawyer pipes up for first time and requests company get access to any related materials, since Cohen worked for the org for 10 years.
"We can help the government make privileged decisions," said the lawyer, saying they can "greatly expedite the process."
"We can help the government make privileged decisions," said the lawyer, saying they can "greatly expedite the process."
Decision time! (sort of). Judge Wood said she has "faith" in the Southern District of New York Attorneys office to sort through and organize all the seized docs.
"Their integrity is unimpeachable."
"Their integrity is unimpeachable."
But no set decision on whether it's a taint team ("an available option") or a special master ("might have a role here, maybe not the complete role") who'll review the docs for privileged info.
"My interest is in getting this moving efficiently and speedily," said Judge Wood.
"My interest is in getting this moving efficiently and speedily," said Judge Wood.
Basically she wants to know the volume of seized documents from Cohen so that she can make a "much more intelligent choice."
"What I envision is sort of a test," said Judge Wood.
"What I envision is sort of a test," said Judge Wood.
The US Attorneys office has until Wed to tell the court how many seized docs there are and how long they'll take to be uploaded to an electronic database (apparently cellphones might take a bit longer).
Cohen's team will get access to all the seized material.
Cohen's team will get access to all the seized material.
The US Attorneys Office is simply uploading and scanning documents into a readable format, investigators will not have access to the documents yet.
And the US Attorneys Office and Cohen will meet to decide on a list of search items (such as client names), which will help when it comes time for either a taint team or special master to search through the documents and evaluate them as privileged or not.
And with that, we leave. Apparently Stormy Daniels spoke to the media outside, I was stuck in line trying to pick up my phone cause court rules. Got out in time to see the absolute mad media scramble when her lawyer Michael Avenatti spoke. Thanks all for following. 
Oh! And for a full run down on what happened today w this Cohen hearing (not just inside the courtroom) check out this story by @chrisgeidner and me: buzzfeed.com/amberjamieson/…
Thread seemed to get broken here (serves me right for subway tweeting), you can find the rest here:
Rest of thread continues here:
