A legal fight over what should happen to records the FBI seized from President Donald Trump's personal attorney took a surprise twist Monday when the lawyer, Michael Cohen, was forced to reveal a secret — that he had also done legal work for Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The disclosure came as a New York judge disappointed a lawyer for Trump by letting prosecutors proceed with the cataloguing of evidence including multiple electronic devices that were seized in raids while a system is set up to ensure that records protected by attorney-client privilege aren't disclosed to investigators.
Lawyers for Cohen and prosecutors both had reason to claim success after three hours of arguments before U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, who said she may appoint a special master, a neutral lawyer, to help decide which materials should stay confidential.
Wood denied a request by Trump's lawyer, Joanna Hendon, that the president and Cohen get the first crack at designating which documents should be off-limits to investigators.
Hannity's name emerged after the judge pressed Cohen to divulge the names of the clients he's worked with since the 2016 election, whose privileged communications might be contained within his files.
Cohen's legal team said he had just three clients in 2017 and 2018.
One was Trump. Another was Elliott Broidy, a Trump fundraiser who resigned from the Republican National Committee on Friday after it was revealed that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate with whom he had an extramarital affair. The Playmate became pregnant and elected to have an abortion.
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Cohen's lawyers resisted revealing the name of the third client, saying it would be embarrassing and unnecessary. Plus, the client had specifically asked for privacy and requested that they appeal any demand to divulge his name.
But Wood pressed on.
"I understand he doesn't want his name out there, but that's not enough under the law," she said, after hearing legal arguments from Robert Balin, a lawyer for five news organizations including The Associated Press.
When the name was announced, there were gasps and some laughter in a courtroom packed with journalists. A few of them raced from the courtroom.
Cohen's lawyers did not detail the type of legal work he did for Hannity.
On his radio show, Hannity said Cohen was never involved in any matter between him and any third party.
"Michael never represented me in any matter," Hannity said. "I never retained him in any traditional sense. I never received an invoice. I never paid a legal fee. I had brief discussions with him about legal questions where I wanted his input and perspective."
Later he added on Twitter the legal advice he got from Cohen was "almost exclusively about real estate."
Hannity addressed the controversy twice during his television show Monday night, brushing off criticism from lawyer Alan Dershowitz who told him, "you should have disclosed your relationship with Cohen when you talked about him on the show."
Hannity replied that the relationship was minimal and that he had a right to privacy. "It had to do with real estate and nothing political," Hannity told Dershowitz.
He gave a lengthier explanation at the end of his show, saying Cohen "never represented me in any legal matter." He called Cohen a great attorney, but said none of their discussions ever included a third party and were centered on real estate.
Hannity, an outspoken supporter of Trump, has been a fierce critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Monday's hearing began with an appearance by porn actress Stormy Daniels, who was swarmed by photographers and nearly fell as she was hustled into the courthouse, a scene that captured the sensational atmosphere around the case.
The last to enter court, she was among the first to leave. While in court, she smiled several times as she observed the proceedings from a folding chair near the back of the room. Outside afterward, she said Cohen has acted like he's above the law and that she and her lawyer are committed to making sure everyone learns the truth.
The April 9 raid on Cohen sought information on a variety of matters, including a $130,000 payment made to Daniels, who alleges she had sex with a married Trump in 2006.
At stake is an investigation that could uncover the inner workings of Trump's longtime fixer and image protector. People familiar with the probe told the AP that agents were seeking bank records, records on Cohen's dealing in the taxi industry, Cohen's communications with the Trump campaign and information on payments made in 2016 to two women who say they had affairs with Trump, former Playboy model Karen McDougal and the porn star Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Lawyers for Cohen filed papers Monday saying investigators "took everything" during the raids, including more than a dozen electronic devices.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas McKay said in court that the government took images of the contents of most electronic devices, leaving them behind after the raids, and that cataloguing evidence might be delayed because some devices must be sent to an FBI laboratory to "decrypt" because they require code words.
Prosecutors say that material should be reviewed by a team of Justice Department lawyers independent from the investigation who could identify records that should remain confidential. That team, they said, could provide the documents to Trump and other Cohen clients for their own review.
Trump, who was in Florida on Monday, said all lawyers are now "deflated and concerned" by the FBI raid on Cohen.
"Attorney Client privilege is now a thing of the past," he tweeted Sunday. "I have many (too many!) lawyers and they are probably wondering when their offices, and even homes, are going to be raided with everything, including their phones and computers, taken. All lawyers are deflated and concerned."
