Michael Cohen’s attorney revealed in open court Monday that Sean Hannity is the mystery third client Cohen alluded to in previous court filings, according to reporters live-tweeting the proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ruled during the hearing that Cohen must disclose the client’s identity. The revelation came in a hearing on Cohen’s efforts to halt the government’s review of documents seized form his office, residence and hotel room, so that Cohen or an independent third party can sort out records falling under attorney-client privilege first.
In a letter Sunday night, Cohen’s attorneys claimed that Cohen had been engaged in “traditional legal tasks” with at least three clients in 2017 through 2018. The letter named President Donald Trump, who has already sought to get involved in the current dispute over the seized documents, and Elliot Broidy, a GOP fundraiser for whom Cohen arranged a hush payment for a Playboy model he impregnated, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Cohen resisted naming the third client, citing his client’s preference that his identity not be made public.
Prosectors have argued that they should be allowed to move forward through the Justice Department’s typical process in which the government handles documents seized from attorneys. Under that process, a special team of DOJ lawyers not involved in the investigation, sort out any documents that fall under attorney-client privilege. Prosecutors, in the Cohen dispute, have argued that their investigation focuses on his business dealing, and that Cohen appears to have been engaged in little traditional legal work anyway.
At the hearing Monday, Cohen’s lawyers floated disclosing the third client to the judge privately under seal, according to the reporters live-tweeting it, but Judge Wood said that they had not met the threshold for the client’s name to remain hidden from the public.
Cohen’s lawyer says his unnamed third client is a “publicly prominent individual.”
— erica orden (@eorden) April 16, 2018
Judge says regarding unnamed third client, Cohen team “has not met the standard for an exception to the notion that client identity and even fee arrangements must be revealed.”
— erica orden (@eorden) April 16, 2018
Judge Wood: “I understand that he doesn’t want his name out there, but that’s not enough under the law.”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 16, 2018
“The client’s name is Sean Hannity”
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 16, 2018
