This is completely insane.
According to a report in The New York Times, the FBI raided the office of Trump’s longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in search of records, “related to the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Mr. Trump was heard making vulgar comments about women.”
And that’s not even the worst of it.
From the NYT report:
The F.B.I. agents who raided the office and hotel of President Trump’s lawyer on Monday were seeking all records related to the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Mr. Trump was heard making vulgar comments about women, according to three people who have been briefed on the contents of a federal search warrant.The search warrant also sought evidence of whether the lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, tried to suppress damaging information about Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“Tried to suppress damaging information about Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign…” So he was doing his job. Got it.
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.The disclosure comes a day after it was revealed that the authorities also sought documents from Mr. Cohen related to payments made to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr. Trump, Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford, as well as information on the role of the publisher of The National Enquirer in silencing the women.The new details from the warrant reveal that prosecutors are keenly interested in Mr. Cohen’s unofficial role in the Trump campaign. And they help explain why Mr. Trump was furious about the raid. People close to Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen regard the warrant as an attempt by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to pry into Mr. Trump’s personal life — using other prosecutors as his proxy.
None of this has to do with the Trump team’s alleged collusion with Russian agents, that, after 18 months of investigating, Mueller and his crack team have been unable to prove exists.
Professor Jacobson:
Professor has said repeatedly that Mueller appears to be stepping well outside of bounds in search of process crimes unrelated to the purpose of the investigation. This story does nothing to rebut his argument.
Tuesday it was made public that the U.S. Attorney for New York’s Southern District was recused from the investigation.
And today (Wednesday) it was reported that the Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote on legislation making it damned near impossible for Trump to can Mueller (if he chooses to do so).
“The bill also creates a 10-day window within which a special counsel can seek judicial review of the firing. If it is determined that the special counsel was not, in fact, fired for good cause, then he would be reinstated. In the interim, it would ensure that the special counsel’s staff and investigative materials are preserved,” reports the NYT.
This stinks to high heaven. All of it.
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