Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas two Soviet emigres who hired Trumps personal lawyer and then helped him investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made a brief appearance in federal court in a case that also has led federal investigators to scrutinize Giulianis interactions with the pair.

There are issues that we need to be sensitive to, said MacMahon.

Giuliani has said that Parnas and Fruman assisted him in his investigative work on the presidents behalf, and that Parnas and Fruman previously had hired him to do work for them. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, has urged the Ukrainian government to investigate the former vice president and sought evidence to buttress an unfounded accusation that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

MacMahon questioned at the hearing if some of the evidence involving his client should be shielded from investigators as ­attorney-client discussions.

Its less clear how executive privilege which typically covers conversations between a president and government employee advisers could play a role in the case. Parnas and Fruman did not work for the government, nor did Giuliani.

Executive privilege can be invoked only by the president, and MacMahon acknowledged that he was uncertain of how that issue might apply to this case, and if it did, whether it would apply to just his client or Fruman, as well.

The added issue of executive privilege … makes it very complicated, said MacMahon. I dont know how to resolve this.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebekah Donaleski said her office was attuned to those concerns and said a filter team already had been established to review evidence in the case.

That team of prosecutors will ensure that sensitive information is not exposed, she said, adding that were happy to have a conversation to discuss the issue further.

The judge told both sides to discuss the privilege questions before the next hearing on the case Dec. 2.

Donaleski said the evidence gathered in the case included the results of a dozen search warrants covering electronic devices, social media accounts and 50 bank accounts.

After the hearing, Parnas spoke briefly on the courthouse steps.

Many false things have been said about me and my family in the press and media recently. I look forward to defending myself vigorously in court, and Im certain that in time the truth will be revealed, and I will be vindicated, he said. In the end, I put my faith in God.

Another attorney representing Parnas, Joseph Bondy, criticized the Justice Department for what he called a smear campaign run by misleading and self-serving leaks apparently from the highest levels of government.

Fruman and Parnas were charged in an indictment this month with conspiracy and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission about political donations.

Two of their co-defendants, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, pleaded not guilty last week in Manhattan federal court.

Giuliani associates arrested

The arrests mark the first criminal charges to emerge from the U.S. governments suddenly controversial relationship with Ukraine a complex web of financial and political interactions linking diplomacy to alleged violations of campaign finance law.

The indictment does not allege wrongdoing by the president, Giuliani or the Trump campaign, but the charges of political donations made for the secret benefit of foreign interests add to the growing legal and political pressure on Trump and his lawyer as they try to fend off Democrats impeachment efforts.

A grand jury subpoena has been issued to former congressman Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican, who interacted with Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman. Parnas and Fruman are accused of violating campaign finance laws by making donations to Sessionss campaign that exceeded federal limits.

The indictment charges that in 2018, Parnas met with the ­then-congressman, seeking his assistance in causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, and that those efforts were conducted at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.

Sessions and Giuliani have denied wrongdoing.