By Brendan Pierson and Doina Chiacu

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a court-appointed independent official should be the first to examine documents seized by FBI agents from U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

The agents raided Cohen’s office and home on April 9, an action that infuriated the president. Prosecutors said in a court filing several days later that they have been investigating the lawyer for months, largely over his business dealings rather than his legal work.

The seizure of the documents has led to a legal spat as to who should be allowed to review them.

Lawyers for Cohen and Trump wanted to seek to limit prosecutors’ ability to review the documents, citing attorney-client privilege.

But prosecutors initially said the documents should be reviewed by a “taint team” of lawyers within their own office, who would be walled off from the main prosecution team. Cohen filed a legal action to block them from reviewing the documents, arguing that his lawyers should get a first look. Both sides also said they would be open to an independent ‘special master’ getting a first look.

In the end, the judge opted for the ‘special master.’

“The letters I received from counsel for Mr Cohen and the intervenors has convinced me that this process can go quickly with the special master, assuming everyone works as hard as you have represented you will work,” said U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson and Johnathan Stempel in New York and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Tom Brown, Frances Kerry and Susan Thomas)