FBI agents raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday at the request of special counsel Robert Mueller, Cohen’s attorney said.
The New York Times reported that the raid collected documents related to Cohen’s October 2016 payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump.
Cohen claims he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, without Trump’s knowledge, amid questions about whether the payoff is an illegal campaign contribution.
Lawyer Stephen Ryan, who is representing Cohen, called the raid “completely inappropriate and unnecessary.”
“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,” Ryan said in a statement. “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.”
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Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Daniels, said he wasn’t surprised by the raid.
“As I predicted last week on CNN and MSNBC, Mr. Cohen has been placed in the crosshairs by Mr. Trump,” Avenatti said. “He has been set-up to take the fall. An enormous amount of misplaced faith has been placed on his shoulders and I do not believe he has the mettle to withstand it. If I am correct, this could end very, very badly for Mr. Trump and others.”
- Discussion
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#BREAKING: FBI raids Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's office https://t.co/ybOi3Pg4GY pic.twitter.com/WY3cUiUR4j
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 9, 2018
"This is war." @BillKristol says he thinks the FBI raiding Trump attorney Michael Cohen's office "shows that we are very close now to the end game" regarding special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation https://t.co/wAms255fuf pic.twitter.com/8KF4TL0NeH
— CNN (@CNN) April 9, 2018
Michael Cohen’s office prepared for FBI raid. pic.twitter.com/9VMEfGbXCS
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) April 9, 2018
— Ryan (@alwaysonoffense) April 9, 2018
Process this fact, because right now the President is tearing out his wispy hair poof…
There's a meaningful chance Robert Mueller's team now has all of the many, many NDAs Trump had with his many, many women.
And Trump's tax returns. pic.twitter.com/clwdJ7ixfQ
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 9, 2018
Hey, tough guy….knock, knock. https://t.co/ocsZt4n8kO
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) April 9, 2018
NEW: At the direction of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, federal agents executed search warrants on longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on at least THREE locations: office, home AND hotel room https://t.co/IPwBGV2BLh
— erica orden (@eorden) April 9, 2018
Seems to me that being a lawyer for Trump involves a willingness to forego ethics and perhaps to break the law for this client. Might be why several lawyers declined to represent Trump recently. Contrary to the stereotype, most attorneys have very high ethical standards. Anything less can result in disbarment and/or jail time.
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