- A judge plans to appoint a "special master" to review evidence the FBI seized from
Rudy Giuliani . - The appointee will review whether the information taken falls under attorney-client privilege.
- The same procedure was used in the case against Michael Cohen, who also served as
Donald Trump 's personal lawyer.
The federal judge overseeing a criminal investigation into Rudy Giuliani is seeking to appoint a "special master" to review evidence the FBI seized from the former New York City mayor's home and office.
The move is an important step in allowing federal prosecutors in Manhattan to review the material taken from Giuliani during an April 28 raid on his home and office, as well as material seized from a search warrant served at the home of his associate, Victoria Toensing.
A "special master" - typically a retired judge - is a third party who a judge appoints to review evidence and determine what information is protected by privilege before it can be seen by prosecutors. The same legal procedure was used in 2018 to review evidence seized from Michael Cohen who, like Giuliani, served as a personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump.
The judge, James Paul Oetken, denied requests from Giuliani and Toensing to exclude the seized evidence from the case. The two argued the evidence seized was protected by attorney-client privilege and should not be seen by prosecutors. They asked the judge if they could hire a "filter team" of their own to review the material and decide what prosecutors would be allowed to see.
Oetken turned them down, ruling the search warrants from the FBI were served with probable cause, and that a special master would be appropriate to ensure "the perception of fairness."
"Lawyers are not immune from searches in criminal investigations," Oetken wrote in the Friday ruling, citing legal precedent. "Rather, a law office search 'is nevertheless proper if there is reasonable cause to believe that the specific items sought are located on the property to be searched.'"
The precise scope of the investigation into Giuliani is unclear, and he hasn't been accused of wrongdoing.
But federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York appear to be examining whether Trump's former personal lawyer broke laws against foreign lobbying when he sought to dig up political dirt on now-President Joe Biden while in
In the April 28 raid, FBI agents seized 18 electronic devices pursuant to a criminal warrant. Prosecutors say the information on those devices, as well as on a single phone taken from Toensing's home, are crucial to their investigation.
The case is separate from another probe run out of the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York, reported by The New York Times on Thursday, into whether Ukrainians interfered in the 2020 election.
Oetken asked federal prosecutors in Manhattan and attorneys for Giuliani and Toensing to propose candidates for a special master by June 4.
Whoever gets the gig will likely be well-compensated. Barbara Jones, the former federal judge who served as a special master in the case where Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to facilitating hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, was paid more than $330,000 for one month's work.