Trump World was rocked last week when the FBI raided the home, office, and hotel room of the president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Authorities were looking for information related to possible crimes Cohen may have committed in connection to a massive hush money payment he dished out to adult film star Stormy Daniels, covering an affair with the president, along with any other instances where Cohen sought to temper negative press coverage about his most prominent client. It came out in the wake of the raids that the lawyer had actually been under criminal investigation for months.
On Monday, Cohen himself made an appearance in court as a part of the government’s case against him, and he was joined in the courtroom by none other than Stormy Daniels herself, who is also known by Stephanie Clifford, which is her given name. Daniels attracted a swarm of photographers while making her way into court, but she did not answer any of the smattering of shouted questions.
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The Monday court hearing included Cohen handing over a list of all clients of his who may have had communications of theirs swept up in the government’s raids last week. During the course of the hearing, it came out that Fox News host Sean Hannity was a secret client of Cohen’s.
The president, who is no doubt Cohen’s most prominent client, has bemoaned the supposed death of attorney client privilege in the wake of the raids.
Going into this Monday’s hearing, the president was actually seeking the remarkable provision of himself being allowed to review materials seized from Cohen before investigators. He has denied having knowledge of the hush money that Cohen dished out to Daniels, so according to that logic, he should have little to worry about. After all, according to his initial claim, there are no communications between him and Cohen about one of the core matters the government is investigating.
Daniels is pursuing her own case against the president’s team, suing Cohen for defamation and suing to be free from the nondisclosure agreement that she signed in connection to the hush money payment. That NDA was not signed by Trump himself, which according to the Daniels team means that it is invalid and she can not be held liable for damages.
Featured Image via Yana Paskova/ Getty Images
