Trump attacks federal raid on lawyer’s offices
PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has called the federal raid on the offices of his personal lawyer “a disgrace”.
Federal agents searched the office of Michael Cohen, seizing records on topics including a $130,000 (£92,000) payment made to a porn actress who says she had sex with Mr Trump more than a decade ago.
The move ignited the president’s anger, with Mr Trump calling it a “disgrace” that federal agents “broke into” the office of his personal lawyer. He also called special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation “an attack on our country”.
Mr Trump called the probe a “witch hunt,” suggesting it was a distraction from serious issues, such as the consideration of a military response to Syria’s apparent use of a chemical weapon on civilians over the weekend – which was a subject of his Monday evening meeting with the defence secretary, the joint chiefs of staff and US combatant commanders.
Instead, Mr Trump opened with an unprompted four-minute critique of Mr Mueller’s investigation. “I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, a good man,” Mr Trump began, referring to the agents who had obtained search warrants from a federal judge.
The raid on Mr Cohen’s office was done by the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan and was based at least partly on a referral from Mr Mueller, according to Mr Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen Ryan.
“The decision by the US Attorney’s Office in New York to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary,” Mr Ryan said in a statement.
“It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients.”
The raid creates a new legal headache for Mr Trump even as he and his lawyers weigh whether to agree to an interview with Mr Mueller’s team, which in addition to investigating potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign is also examining whether the president’s actions constitute obstruction of justice.
The law enforcement action will almost certainly increase scrutiny of the payment to actress, Stormy Daniels, days before the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Trump insists he did not know about the payment.
Several former officials at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) have said the payment appears to be a violation of campaign finance laws, and multiple Washington-based groups have filed complaints with the FEC, urging it to investigate.
A referral from Mr Mueller’s office to the Manhattan US Attorney suggests that the matter is not related to Russia.
Under Justice Department regulations, Mr Mueller is required to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein when his investigators uncover new evidence that may fall outside his original mandate.
A spokesman for Mr Mueller’s office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the US Attorney’s office also had no comment.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser is resigning in the latest White House departure. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Thomas Bossert would be leaving his post, the latest in a wave of departures from the West Wing.