Trump blasts Russian Federation probe after Federal Bureau of Investigation raids his personal lawyer’s office

Aides said Trump watched cable news coverage of surprise raids on Cohen’s Manhattan office, home and hotel room by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, who took the lawyer’s computer, phone and personal financial records after a referral from Mueller.

Earlier in the day before the president met with senior military leaders at the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the NY office and residence of Michael Cohen, seeking information about a $130,000 payment the attorney made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election, sources told NBC News.

The search warrants may uncover evidence of prior payoffs and the feds will have a strong interest in where the money came from and whether it was deducted as a Trump or Cohen business expense.

The New York Times, citing a source, said Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seized emails, tax documents and business records.

There is nothing criminal about the affair or the payment, but legal and election law experts have said if the money was paid to keep Daniels quiet about the affair ahead of the election, it could be construed as a campaign finance contribution that was way above the permissible limit.

Cohen’s lawyer said in a statement that the search was “completely inappropriate and unnecessary”, and Trump called it “disgraceful” in impromptu remarks. Investigators also seized a computer, phone, personal financial records, and attorney-client communications.

Ryan said that Cohen has cooperated with authorities and turned over thousands of documents to congressional investigators for their own probes into Moscow’s alleged efforts to influence the USA election. This is a pure and simple witch hunt. And when, I will not say because I don’t like talking about timing, but we are developing the greatest force that we’ve ever had.

“This is ridiculous. This is now getting ridiculous”, Trump said, pointing to a “whole new level of unfairness”.

Steyn said the media were gleeful at the news that the Mueller team helped trigger an Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s office and home.

The FBI on Monday raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney. Trump has denied the affair.

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 Russian Federation and the Trump campaign is also examining whether the president’s actions constitute obstruction of justice. “Michael’s my attorney, and you’ll have to ask Michael”. “You’ll have to ask Michael”, he told reporters.

In response, the company handed over documents about a US$150,000 (S$196,701) donation that the Ukrainian billionaire, Mr Victor Pinchuk, made in September 2015 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a 20-minute appearance by Mr Trump that month through a video link to a conference in Kiev.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Trump claiming the “hush agreement” she signed in 2016 – leading to the $130,000 payment – is invalid because Trump himself never signed it. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims in her lawsuit that she is identified in the “hush agreement” by the pseudonym “Peggy Peterson”, while Trump used the name “David Dennison”. According to The Times, the Trump Organization responded by handing over documents about Pinchuk’s donation, among others.

Avenatti said Monday that a “sizeable monetary reward” will be offered to anyone providing information identifying the person that Daniels says threatened her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. Avenatti tweeted a photo Sunday that he said showed Daniels sitting with a forensic sketch artist to develop a sketch.