The Archdiocese of New York has named a retired judge with ties to President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to conduct a top-to-bottom review of its policies and procedures when it comes to dealing with allegations of sexual abuse in the church.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan made the announcement in a press conference Thursday, the transcript of which was posted to his website.
Calling the past few months the "summer of hell" after multiple allegations of sexual abuse emerged across the country, Dolan said he is bringing in retired judge Barbara Jones to take a look at the archdiocese's records.
"Meet Judge Barbara Jones, who will now become our special counsel and independent reviewer," Dolan said. "Many of you know her already, as her efforts in law enforcement, jurisprudence, and community reform are acclaimed. A federal judge, a former prosecutor, known for her wisdom and fairness, I have asked Judge Jones to help me and this archdiocese, and I'm grateful she's accepted.
"Here's what I've asked her to do: an exhaustive study of our policies, procedures, and protocols on how we deal with any accusation that comes to us about an alleged abuse of a young person by a priest, deacon, or a bishop. I have promised her complete access to our records, personnel, and to me personally."
Jones, as ABC News pointed out, was appointed in April to sort through documents and other materials seized during raids on Cohen's home, offices, and hotel room and determine which ones should be treated under attorney-client privilege.
Jones ultimately marked more than 7,000 of the pieces of material as privileged.
The Cohen raids were part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
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