WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at prosecutors for the raid of his longtime personal attorney’s Manhattan office, home and hotel room, saying it violated attorney-client privilege.
“Attorney - client privilege is dead!” the president said on Twitter.
Moments later, he fired off another brief early morning tweet: “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!”
On Monday, FBI agents seized records of attorney Michael Cohen’s clients and personal finances. Among the records taken were those related to a 2016 payment Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
The raids were part of an investigation referred by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to federal prosecutors in New York. Cohen is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, three people with knowledge of the case have told The Washington Post. (Continued below.)
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Search warrants for law offices are rare because of concerns about privileged materials, legal experts say. To serve a search warrant on a practicing attorney, federal prosecutors are required to obtain approval from top Justice Department officials.
Trump’s tweets echoed comments he made Monday night to reporters at a dinner with military leaders. At the dinner, he repeatedly called the raid “a disgrace” and said he had been the subject of a long witch hunt.