The US attorney who was appointed by President Donald Trump and believed to have requested a search warrant for the office and home of Michael Cohen recused himself from the case prior to Monday's raid.

Cohen, the longtime lawyer for President Trump, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations.

ABC News is reporting now that Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, had recused himself prior to the raid.

It was also revealed at the same time that Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, personally signed off on the investigation.

Rosenstein also signed off on Berman's decision to recuse himself from the investigation.

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Man in the middle: Geoffrey S. Berman (center), the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is recused from the Russia probe

Berman, the acting attorney for the district, is a supporter of President Trump who donated $5400 to his campaign and is a partner with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig.

He was appointed to his post in January, nine months after Preet Bharara was fired from his post after refusing to resign.

Berman had previously served as the assistant US attorney for the same district between 1990 to 1994 under presidents Bush and Clinton.

He was also reportedly interviewed by President Trump personally before being appointed to his current post.

He is married to a fellow lawyer, Joanne Karen Schwartz, with whom he tied the knot back in 1994, when he left his post as assistant US attorney.

The couple has two sons, 22-year-old Jeremy and 19-year-old Matthew, and splits their time between an apartment in New York City and a $2million home in Princeton, New Jersey.

Friends of Berman said earlier this year that he would likely keep politics out of a prosecutor's office that has long prided itself on independence from Washington.

'He's not about politics. He's about doing the right thing and the law,' said Mary Jo White, who led the office from 1993 to 2002 and was later chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Democratic President Barack Obama.

Berman, 58, was appointed as the interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York on January 3, a post that gives him oversight of more than 220 federal prosecutors who often take the lead battling wrongdoing on Wall Street and international terrorism.

His status in the job is unsettled. The president hasn't formally submitted his name to the Senate for confirmation for the permanent position.

Prior to his inauguration Trump also had met with his predecessor, Bharara, who thought he'd won assurances he'd be kept in the job only to be swept aside in a purge of all prosecutors appointed by Obama, a Democrat.

Several former prosecutors who worked with Berman said he had an apolitical nature.

White said she remembered him as 'one of the stars' of the office and someone who would always 'stay on the high road and try to do the right thing and be very independent.'

Lorin Reisner, who was chief of the criminal division under Bharara and is now in private practice, said Berman 'really cares about the history and the heritage of the office,' long nicknamed the 'Sovereign District of New York' for its independence from Washington.

'Knowing Geoff the way I know Geoff, I have no question about this independence and his commitment to carry out his responsibilities apolitically and completely on the merits,' he said.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Berman studied at the University of Pennsylvania and got his law degree at Stanford before becoming a clerk to Judge Leonard Garth in the 3rd U.S. District Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

From 1987 to 1990 he worked for the independent counsel who investigated the administration of President Ronald Reagan in the Iran-Contra affair.

William Treanor, Dean of Georgetown Law School and the associate counsel for the Iran-Contra probe, said he was impressed by the rare Republican working on the investigation.

'Geoff is very low key. He doesn't take himself too seriously but he takes his work seriously,' said Treanor.

'He's not a: "Look at me! Look at me!" type of person.'

Buddy system: Berman was appointed by President Trump, donated $5400 to his campaign and was a law partner at the same firm as Rudy Giuliani (above with President Trump)

Treanor said Berman was 'somebody very committed to getting the law right and deciding on questions of what's legal and illegal in a fair and apolitical way.'

Colleagues said Berman would not be a peacock in a prosecutor's office that has had more than its share of big personalities and media darlings during the last few decades, including Giuliani, Bharara and ex-FBI head James Comey.

'He's not what you would call flamboyant,' said Bob Fiske, another former Manhattan U.S. attorney.

'But I think he'll be a good leader.'

Berman's approach to his work also won praise from Rich Appel, who was sworn in as an assistant U.S. attorney the same day as Berman only to give up law three years later to write for The Simpsons.

Appel, whose extensive TV credits include executive producer on Family Guy, identifies himself as a progressive Democrat and doubts he would often vote the same as Berman. But he called him a great choice for the job.

'Here's someone who was completely in charge. There's like seven left arms and nine right arms in an investigation and you have to keep track of them all, and Geoff did,' said Appel.

'One of the only times I recall him leaving the office early was to go to a mixer. And I think it was the mixer where he met his wife. Wasn't a lot of wasted time. Even with that, he was efficient.'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke about Berman as well after appointing him in January, saying in a statement: 'Geoffrey Berman brings three decades of invaluable experience to the role of Interim United States Attorney. He was part of the prosecution team charged with investigating the Iran-Contra matter and served as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

'As Interim U.S. Attorney for this same district, he will lead an incredible team of attorneys and investigators and help provide New Yorkers with safety, security, and peace of mind. I am pleased to appoint him to this important role.'