Feds seize documents from Trump lawyer

Federal agents on Monday raided the office of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, seizing records on topics including a $130,000 payment made to a porn actress who said she had sex with Trump more than a decade ago.

The raid on Cohen’s office was done by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan and was based at least partly on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, according to Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen Ryan.

“The decision by the U.S. 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.”

The raid creates a new legal headache for Trump even as he and his attorneys weigh whether to agree to an interview with 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 amplify the public scrutiny on the payment to the actress, Stormy Daniels, which was made just days before the 2016 presidential election. Trump told reporters last week that he did not know about the payment.

Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images file photo Attorney Michael Cohen arrives at Trump Tower for meetings with the-president-elect Donald Trump in New York in 2016. Federal agents raided the New York offices of Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Monday.