Michael Hernandez
10 April 2018•Update: 11 April 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
FBI agents raided the office of President Donald Trump's long-standing personal lawyer Monday, drawing the ire of America's chief executive.
Trump lashed out at the raid on Michael Cohen's Manhattan workplace shortly before meeting with his military leadership, telling reporters the FBI's action is a "disgraceful situation" and "an attack on on our country".
"It's a total witch hunt. I've been saying it for a long time. I've wanted to keep it down. I've given over a million pages in documents to the special counsel," Trump said, visibly angered by the development, though he insisted he is not concerned with what the FBI might uncover.
He was referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe into Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 White House race in favor of Trump, as well as potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the "influence campaign".
Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York "executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications" between Cohen and his clients upon a referral from Mueller's office.
Ryan called the search "completely inappropriate and unnecessary".
Among the documents collected are some pertaining to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress and director who alleges a 2006 affair with Trump just months after his wife, Melania, gave birth to their son.
Those documents relate to only one of a series of topics that are under investigation, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the search. The FBI also seized business documents, emails, and tax records, the Times reported.
The FBI obtained search warrants before carrying out the raids, which also targeted a room Cohen is staying at in Manhattan's Loews Regency Hotel, according to the Times.
Asked why he has not yet fired Mueller, Trump appeared to leave the door open to following through on the action, which he has been warned against, including by prominent members of his party.
"I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens," Trump said.
Firing Mueller "would be the beginning of the end of his presidency", Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, has warned.
