The judge in the Michael Cohen case has denied Cohen’s bid to have the government blocked from going through the materials they seized last week from his offices and hotel room. But she outlined a process where both sides will go though the documents for privileged material. The government can’t look at the substance of the materials, beyond the narrow search. The judge did not rule out appointing a special master to look through the materials, but said she’d decide at a future hearing.

The upshot: This slows things down somewhat, but, at least for now, it doesn’t derail the government’s investigation. We’ll have more details up shortly. 

Update: And here they are.