Ex-Federal Judge Barbara Jones Chosen as Special Master in Cohen-Trump Case

<snip>The person chosen to review materials seized from President Donald Trump’s lawyer cut her teeth as a mob prosecutor, presided as a judge over white-collar crime cases and decided the fates of corporate chieftain Bernie Ebbers and NFL running back Ray Rice.

Barbara Jones, 70, was appointed at a hearing Thursday to sift through material seized on April 9 by the FBI from the premises and electronic devices of Michael Cohen, a longtime Trump attorney.

Jones, who retired from the federal bench a half-decade ago, will decide what records may contain communications protected by attorney-client privilege, making them off-limits to prosecutors. Her determinations may help shape the direction of a criminal investigation that prosecutors have said is focused on Cohen’s personal business and financial dealings.

Jones sent mobsters to prison as a federal prosecutor in New York, and became the first woman to lead a federal organized crime task force. She was the judge who sentenced WorldCom’s Ebbers to 25 years in prison for orchestrating an $11 billion accounting fraud. In 2016, after retiring from the bench, she joined Bracewell LLP after an exodus of lawyers including Rudy Giuliani.<snip>

Link:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-26/in-trump-lawyer-case-judge-names-an-ex-judge-as-special-master