FBI raids offices of Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen
The FBI, armed with search warrants, has raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records related to several topics including payments to a pornographic-film actress.
The raid on Cohen's office was done by the US Attorney's office in Manhattan and was based, in part, on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, according to Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan.
Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly paid $US130,000 to a porn star Stormy Daniels.
Photo: AP"The decision by the US Attorney's Office in New York to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary," Ryan said in a statement.
"It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients."
Ryan did not elaborate on the documents that were taken from Cohen's office.
However, the New York Times reported that documents seized related to several issues including Cohen's payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Cohen has been under heavy public scrutiny in recent months for his payment of $US130,000 ($168,000) to Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump in the mid-2000s.
The search does not appear to be directly related to Mueller’s investigation, but likely resulted from information he had uncovered and gave to prosecutors in New York.
Cohen plays a role in aspects of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Ryan said Cohen has cooperated with authorities and turned over thousands of documents to congressional investigators looking into Russian election meddling.
The payments to Clifford are only one of many topics being investigated, according to a person briefed on the search. The FBI also seized emails, tax documents and business records, the person said.
More to come
AP