US Federal agents armed with search warrants have seized documents from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, a defence lawyer said Monday. The raid on Cohen’s office was done by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan and was based, in part, 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.” Ryan did not elaborate on the documents that were taken from Cohen’s office.
Cohen is Trump’s longtime personal lawyer. He has been under heavy public scrutiny in recent months for his payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump in the mid-2000s.
Mr. Ryan said Mr. Cohen has cooperated with authorities and turned over thousands of documents to congressional investigators looking into Russian election meddling.
The payments to Ms. Clifford are only one of many topics being investigated, according to a person briefed on the search. The F.B.I. also seized emails, tax documents and business records, the person said.
The New York Times first reported on the raid, the AP said.
