The F.B.I. on Monday raided the offices of President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and seized records related to, among other things, his payments to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels.
The raid doesn’t seem directly related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but resulted from a referral from his office, according to the New York Times. Officials raided both his law office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and his hotel room at the Loews Regency, according to Vanity Fair. An attorney for Cohen, Stephen Ryan, called the search “completely inappropriate and unnecessary.”
“Today the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, Michael Cohen, and his clients,” he said. “I have been advised by federal prosecutors that the New York action is, in part, a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.”
Cohen has said that he paid Stormy Daniels, a.k.a. Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 out of his own pocket to prevent her from publicly discussing her claims that she had an affair with the president. Monday’s raid was related to that payment, and included tax records, emails and business records.
Over the years, Cohen’s built up a tidy real estate portfolio, which includes luxury condos and a rental building on the Upper East Side. His loyalty to his boss extends to the Trump-branded properties. He purchased a pad at Trump World Tower pad in 2001, and he convinced his parents and in-laws to buy there too, according to the New York Post. He later bought at Trump Palace And Trump Park Avenue.[NYT] — Kathryn Brenzel