Stormy’s lawyer ends bid for role in Cohen case

LARRY NEUMEISTER | TOM HAYS
New York, US.- Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, failed to win more time Wednesday to analyze millions of files seized by the FBI, but they did get one thing they wanted: Their TV tormentor, Stormy Daniels’ attorney, withdrew a request to get a formal role in the case.

A federal judge refereeing an ongoing legal tussle about which documents should be withheld from investigators because of attorney-client privilege gave lawyers for Trump and Cohen until June 15 to finish reviewing 3.7 million paper and electronic files seized from Cohen in the April raids.

The deadline for them to identify documents they believe are confidential was set over the objection of Cohen’s lawyer, Todd Harrison.

“We’re working around-the-clock,” he told U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, saying that even with a team of 15 lawyers “moving heaven and earth,” they had only finished reviewing 1.3 million files so far and didn’t expect to finish until mid-July.

“I don’t know if we can make that,” another Cohen lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said of the June 15 deadline.

Wood was unmoved, but she made comments in court that may have prompted Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, to withdraw a request to get a formal role in the legal negotiations.

Avenatti had applied to intervene in the case so he could ensure that any confidential records or recordings related to Daniels that were in Cohen’s possession weren’t improperly disclosed.

Much of Wednesday’s hearing was consumed by spirited arguments about Avenatti’s numerous public attacks on Cohen, mostly through live cable TV appearances. Ryan protested that the barrage was improper, saying Avenatti was on television at least 170 times, mostly to badmouth Cohen.