Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrive to vote during a campaign rally in Statesville, North Carolina, on Jan.
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Jones, who is a partner in the Bracewell law firm, will also review electronic files recently seized from another Trump allied attorney Victoria Tönsing as part of Giuliani’s criminal investigation.
The files of the two lawyers were confiscated with search warrants.
Prosecutors on Thursday asked Manhattan federal judge J. Paul Oetken to appoint Jones special master and told the judge in a court file that lawyers from Giuliani and Tönsing supported the request.
“Judge Jones’ reputation for integrity and fairness has made her a unanimous choice for all parties,” Giuliani’s attorney Arthur Aidala told CNBC. “We look forward to working with her.”
Cohen said in a text message to CNBC, “Judge Jones has been professional in reviewing and determining the attorney / client privilege of the 10 million+ documents in my case.”
“The choice of Judge Jones and the speedy manner in which she runs her court will not benefit Rudy,” Cohen wrote.
In their motion to appoint Jones, prosecutors found that Giuliani had previously been a shareholder in Bracewell, “then known as Bracewell & Giuliani”.
“In January 2016, Mr. Giuliani left the firm and Judge Jones did not join the firm until July 2016,” wrote prosecutors. “Neither party believes that Mr. Giuliani’s previous affiliation with Bracewell & Giuliani is a conflict that would preclude Judge Jones from being appointed special master or her company being assisted in their review.”
Prosecutors also told Oetken that another partner at Bracewell, who had assisted Jones in reviewing Cohen’s files for privileged material and “who has a personal relationship with Mr. Giuliani”, will be pulling out of the matter to appearances to avoid a conflict. “
Giuliani is under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the southern borough of New York.
In particular, the office that Giuliani once headed is examining whether he has violated a law that requires registration as an agent of foreign powers in certain cases. Giuliani had followed information about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the Trump presidency.
Giuliani said he had done nothing illegal.
The Manhattan Public Prosecutor’s Office is under criminal investigation against Trump himself.
