Despite extensive negotiation over the reopening of in-person legal visits at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, the Federal Defenders of New York say they were taken by surprise last week when two high-profile inmates were allowed to meet with their attorneys inside the facility, where entry has been restricted for months due to the pandemic.

Prosecutors representing the Bureau of Prisons argued in a letter to U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie of the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday that the “test visits” were previously discussed, but the Federal Defenders said they and their clients were left out of the selection process.