Trump lawyer arrives in court for showdown over seized documents
Updated: 2018-04-17 09:35
Lawyers for Cohen appeared without their client at a hearing Friday before US District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan federal court. The judge ordered that Cohen himself be present Monday so that he could answer questions about his clients.
Cohen's lawyers say that Cohen should not be required to turn over the names. They disclosed in a court filing on Monday that Cohen had at least 10 clients in 2017 and 2018, and that he did "traditional legal tasks" for three of them, including Trump, Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy and a third who asked not to be named.
Cohen arranged a $1.6-million payment to secure the silence of a former Playboy model who said she became pregnant by Broidy, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
Cohen did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week's raids came after a "months-long" investigation of possible crimes related largely to Cohen's business dealings, rather than his work as a lawyer, prosecutors have said.
A person familiar with the raids said last week that the information Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were seeking included information about payments to Daniels.
The raids were based partly on a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to court filings.
Trump has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt" and denied any collusion.
Todd Harrison, a lawyer for Cohen, said at Friday's hearing there were thousands of documents seized that were likely privileged, and that many related to clients other than Trump.
Reuters