In addition to forcing the disclosure that Sean Hannity was Michael Cohen's third client last year, Judge Kimba M. Wood denied Cohen's request for a temporary restraining order and permission to go through seized FBI materials before federal prosecutors were able to see them.
According to MSNBC, Judge Wood did say the government must share the documents it has seized with Cohen's counsel on a rolling basis. She has not ruled out a "taint team" or appointment of a special master.
In a blow to Cohen and Trump, who asked to review the seized documents before the government had a chance to look at them, Wood ruled that Justice Department staffers divorced from federal investigators—known as a “taint team”—could be trusted to sift through the seized materials and determine what is and isn’t protected by attorney-client privilege. Wood signaled that she would consider appointing a special master to ensure not “fairness” but “the perception of fairness,” and said the court would reconvene after all parties have a chance to review the seized material and make privilege requests.
(...)
... [Wood] said that she had faith in “the integrity” of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan to review the seized materials properly, without violating attorney-client privilege. While Cohen and Trump’s legal teams should get a copy of the materials, she ruled, prosecutors would be allowed to screen them simultaneously.
While this substantive decision speaks to the crux of the court's business, Hannity and Cohen's involvement was the day's biggest surprise.
NYT:
Before Mr. Hannity’s name was revealed in the courtroom, Mr. Ryan had argued that the mysterious client was a “prominent person” who wanted to keep his identity a secret because he would be “embarrassed” to be identified as a client of Mr. Cohen’s.
Robert D. Balin, a lawyer for various media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN and others, interrupted the proceedings to argue that embarrassment was not a sufficient legal argument to keep a client’s name secret, and Judge Wood agreed.
After Mr. Hannity was named, there were audible gasps in the courtroom.
Hannity responded online.
Just before 4 p.m., he posted a message on Twitter: “Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective.”
In a follow-up tweet, Mr. Hannity added, “I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third-party.”
After offering those initial statements on Mr. Cohen, Mr. Hannity returned to Twitter late Monday afternoon to provide more detail, saying that his “de minimis discussions with Michael Cohen” had been “almost exclusively about real estate.”
Hannity has used his Fox News show to launch vicious attacks on the Department of Justice and FBI in defense of President Trump without ever revealing the two men share the same attorney.
Without disclosing his relationship with Mr. Cohen, Mr. Hannity was fiercely critical of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and the F.B.I. during the April 9 broadcast of “Hannity” on Fox News.
During the show, Mr. Hannity described the F.B.I. raid, adding, “Now, what that means is Mueller’s witch-hunt investigation is now a runaway train that is clearly careening off the tracks.”
“We have now entered a dangerous phase and there is no turning back from this,” he continued.
“We will always be fair and balanced,” Mr. Hannity said as he closed his segment. “We hope you’ll always join us.”
Sean Hannity Is Named as Michael Cohen’s Client (NYT)
The Michael Cohen Case: A Definitive Guide to Key Players (The Atlantic)