President’s fury after FBI raids off ices

A FURIOUS Donald Trump blasted the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller as a disgrace and a witch-hunt after FBI agents raided the New York offices of the president’s long-time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Agents seized files relating to Cohen’s work, which included making a $130 000 (R1.5-million) payment before the 2016 election to an adult film actress who said she had a tryst with Trump.

Cohen’s own attorney, Stephen Ryan, said agents were working in part on the request of Mueller, the independent prosecutor investigating links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

At the White House, Trump angrily denounced the raid on Cohen.

“It’s a disgraceful situation. It’s an attack on our country in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for,” he said.

The raid came as Mueller’s probe intensifies its focus on Trump’s inner circle.

Mueller’s team is examining possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow, allegations of corrupt behaviour by Trump campaign lieutenants, and of White House efforts to obstruct the investigation.

So far 19 people have been indicted, including the chairman of Trump’s campaign and his former national security adviser.

Trump accused Mueller of overseeing a biased investigation staffed by Democrats.

After having turned over what he called a million pages of documents, Trump said the investigation was “now getting ridiculous. They found no collusion whatsoever with Russia”.

Asked if he wanted to fire Mueller, Trump replied: “Many people have said you should fire him. Again they found nothing and in finding nothing that’s a big statement.”

The veteran prosecutor, a former FBI director, is seeking to interview Trump, but has not said the president is a target in the investigation.

The raid on Cohen, though, takes the probe close to the Oval Office.

Cohen has been Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant for years, helping him on real estate and personal matters, as well as informally advising him since he became president.

He is also known as a rough-and-tumble fixer for Trump.