- The former judge Barbara Jones will be appointed special master in Rudy Giuliani's case.
- Jones previously served in the same role in the government's case against Michael Cohen.
- She currently works at Bracewell LLP, a firm Giuliani used to work at.
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A federal judge announced on Friday that Barbara Jones, a former judge who currently works in the private sector, will be appointed special master in the government's case against former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is also Donald Trump's former lawyer.
A special master is someone — typically a retired judge — who reviews documents and records seized in the raid of an attorney's home or office and filters out materials that may be covered under attorney-client privilege.
US District Judge Paul Oetken, who is overseeing the Giuliani case, said in a short court filing Friday that he finds Jones' selection to "be in the interests of justice" and will appoint her as special master.
Jones previously served as the US District Judge for the Southern District of New York and now works at the law firm Bracewell LLP, where Giuliani also used to be a partner, though their time did not overlap. She made headlines in 2018, when SDNY prosecutors requested that she be appointed special master in their case against another ex-Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen.
In their filing requesting Jones' appointment, prosecutors noted that she "'efficiently and meticulously reviewed' tens of thousands of items over a period of four months and made privilege designations that were not objected to by the parties" in the Cohen case.
US District Judge Kimba Wood, who oversaw the case against Cohen, said at the end of the proceedings that Jones "'performed her review with extraordinary efficiency and speed, while giving the parties a full opportunity to be heard,' and she and her law firm showed 'professionalism and careful attention to detail,'" the filing said.
Prosecutors noted that Giuliani and his law associate Victoria Toensing, both of whom had their property raided in April as part of a wide-ranging investigation into whether the former broke foreign lobbying laws, agreed to the appointment of Jones as special master. They also said they had spoken to Jones about the matter and she said she was available to serve as special master.