Posted on 04/09/2018 1:24:44 PM PDT by gattaca
The FBI raided the offices of President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen on Monday.
The raid came after federal prosecutors in New York City obtained a search warrant following a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, Cohen's lawyer told the New York Times. Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and related issues.
NBC News confirmed news of the raid.
The Times reported that FBI agents seized records relating to several issues, including a $130,000 payment Cohen has said he made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels has said that money was given to her in exchange for her agreement to keep quiet about an affair she had with Trump that began in 2006. The White House has denied that Trump had sex with Daniels, and Trump has said he was unaware of the deal Cohen made with her.
In addition to records related to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, FBI agents also seized emails, tax documents and business records, according to the Times, which cited a person briefed on the search.
Cohen is an executive vice president and general counsel of the Trump Organization.
It was not immediately clear where the raid occurred. Vanity Fair reported that FBI agents on Monday visited a room at the Lowes Regency Hotel in Manhattan, where Cohen has been staying and executed the warrants.
Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said, "Today the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients. I have been advised by federal prosecutors that the New York action is, in part, a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller."
"The decision by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary," Ryan said.
"It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients. These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of non-privileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath."
Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNBC that the White House has no comment on the raid.
Spokesmen for the FBI's New York field office and for Mueller did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.
Mueller is totally out of control, and Sessions snoozes on.
Was Stormy Daniels a Russian plant?
When the FBI can raid your attorney's office and seize paperwork that has NOTHING TO DO with the alleged Russian "collusion" case, that's just big time f'ed up.
Mueller is DARING Trump to fire him. Trump should do it. Fire Mueller.
Who issued the warrant and based on what assertion of criminality? 4th Amendment violation!
ROFLMAO! OH MY SIDES! You mean "Q" didn't predict this?! ROFL! You all need to stop following this mythical "Q" and stop getting played. Seriously.
“150,000 peeps marching on DC would be a good first start. Count me in.”
Might be about time for that.
What has that got to do with the Russians?
And hounded Bruce Ivins to suicide or had him killed.
The entire Russian investigation was a pretext to get Trump. They know it and we know it. The entire investigation was tainted, corrupted and fraudulent from the beginning.
And this is exactly why it won't work.
Dems could care less about Trump having sex with Stormy.
They care about Trump using campaign funds to pay her off.
Focus people.
ALLEGED sex until proven in a court of law.
Stormy quickie was 10 years BEFORE Trump ran and won presidency. How did Russia know 10 years ahead to hire a plant?
Sure this is all panic on the Deep State??? Apparently there is no storm on the horizon.
When is the alleged DATE of payment? After Trump declared his run?
There made it more of an accurate statement.
Stormy Danials shopped her story around for $500,000 and nobody wanted to buy it. Just before the election, Cohen offered her $130,000 for it. He now owns exclusive rights to it and she is not allowed to discuss it with anyone. Now she wants to renege on the deal because after Trump won the election, she believes the story is worth more money.
“It sounds like Mueller is trying to provoke Trump into firing him.”
YES!
Exactly.
Mueller has nothing, so he needs Trump to fire him so Trump can be impeached for ‘obstruction’.
It’s a total trap.
I don’t understand why Mueller and his gang are not arrested.
“Mueller plans to emerge as Godfather of America.”
I’d just as soon have him emerge in a body bag.
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