It proves to just be worse and worse to be in the president’s orbit as time goes on. In return for years of service to the man who is now president, lawyer Michael Cohen learned this the hard way recently when authorities raided his home, office, and hotel room and consequently revealed that he’d been under criminal investigation for months.
Cohen is facing scrutiny over an array of possible crimes, including infractions associated with facilitating the infamous massive hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in late 2016 on behalf of Trump covering an alleged affair between the two of them.
NBC News reported recently on another side to that investigation, which had already been revealed to have culminated in warrants for authorities to covertly search Cohen’s email accounts before the raids. According to the outlet’s original reporting, although it had not initially clear how long the wiretaps have been in place, Cohen has had his phone calls being monitored throughout a period extending to the weeks preceding the raids. Also according to the outlet, government surveillance of Cohen’s calls picked up at least one conversation between the lawyer and the White House.
The outlet eventually updated their reporting to state that rather than the government actually having been granted the freedom to listen in on Cohen’s phone conversations, they simply kept a log of them.
Trump has already expressed his strong disapproval with the investigation of Cohen, using the opportunity given him by the raids to rail against Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller, although the investigation of Cohen is distinct from the Russia probe.
Even still, the president shouted on Twitter soon after the raids that attorney-client privilege was supposedly “dead” and added:
‘A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!’
Even still, the investigation of Cohen is continuing.
The president has publicly pushed back on the idea that Cohen will “flip” and cooperate with prosecutors — and thus, possibly, reveal crimes on the part of the president — but according to NBC, one of the newest members of the president’s legal team, Rudy Giuliani, has indicated to the president that such an outcome seems likely.
Trump and Cohen have previously been reported to have spoken by phone in the aftermath of the raids on the longtime associate of the president, but it’s unclear what call the sources speaking to NBC are referring to when saying that one conversation between Cohen and the White House was picked up. There could be another call.
No matter what conversations were or weren’t picked up, it’s clear that Cohen is facing serious legal trouble.
NBC News analyst and former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg commented, speaking of the process required to obtain approval for wiretaps:
‘The affidavits are typically highly detailed and carefully vetted by experienced lawyers. In all cases the wiretap must be approved by a federal judge… This is an exacting process where the government must demonstrate to a federal judge that there is an ongoing crime.’
What exact crimes may have been “ongoing” at the time of the surveillance being approved remain to be seen. Rudy Giuliani recently cast a firecracker into the whole issue when he revealed late Wednesday on Fox that the president had reimbursed Cohen for the hush money payment to Daniels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1JD6Wc7XRU
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