Trump distances himself from his personal lawyer as probe moves forward

U.S. President Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump distanced himself from his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Thursday, hours before a judge ruled that documents seized from Cohen by the FBI should be reviewed by an independent court-appointed official.

The appointment of former judge Barbara Jones as a “special master,” to review the documents and decide which ones prosecutors should be allowed to see, was essentially a compromise that both prosecutors and Cohen’s lawyers had said they would be open to, even though that option was not their first choice.