The FBI raid of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s office and hotel room has angered President Trump so much that he wrote strongly worded, all-caps tweets to express his fury, although in the end he only succeeding in making himself look frightened and ready to crack under the pressure of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into the alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russian government operatives.
Information about what evidence the warrant issued for Cohen’s office and hotel room were seeking hit the news soon afterward. The Washington Post reported that Cohen was “under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations,” and that the search was initiated to find documents related to those charges.
‘Among the records taken were those related to a 2016 payment Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump, according to a fourth person familiar with the investigation.
‘Investigators took Cohen’s computer, phone and personal financial records, including tax returns, as part of the search of his office at Rockefeller Center, that person said.’
Stormy Daniels says the Access Hollywood tape was what made her want to come foward—and Cohen want to shut her up.
That's how/why the tape may be of interest to FBI and SDNY pic.twitter.com/5PMXlS935I
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) April 11, 2018
The New York Times wrote on Wednesday that sources close to the case confirmed one piece of sought-after evidence that was included in the raid. Documents related to Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, which was expected to derail his campaign, were part of the FBI’s search.
The documents around that tape may be part of the investigation into claims by Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, both of whom allege that they had affairs with Trump immediately after the birth of his son, Barron, and both of whom say they were either illegally deceived or threatened into keeping their silence about those affairs during the election.
‘It is not clear what role, if any, Mr. Cohen played regarding the tape, which was made public a month before the election. But the fact that the agents were seeking documents related to the tape reveals a new front in the investigation into Mr. Cohen that is being led by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan.’
Breaking: FBI sought Trump "Access Hollywood" tape records in Michael Cohen raid: Report https://t.co/myxvgCl7BR pic.twitter.com/D8GS6VCMsq
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 11, 2018
The news does indeed add an entirely new piece of the puzzle in the investigation into Trump’s alleged obstruction of justice during the Russian collusion investigation, as well as the claims of both Daniels and McDougal.
Featured image via Getty/Pool
