It now appears that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was charged to investigate the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, has other fish to fry. Mueller is now focusing on Trump’s relationship with women.
On Monday the FBI raided the office and residence of Michael Cohen, the President’s longtime personal attorney. Reports say they were looking for records pertaining to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and money paid to the National Enquirer not to publish a story about the affair Trump had with Karen McDougal, a former Playboy’s Playmate of the Year.
People who have seen the search warrant affidavit say that the FBI was also seeking all records Cohen had on the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump said “Grab them by the pussy.”
There can no longer be any doubt that Mueller’s personal mission is to destroy Donald Trump and his presidency.
Some have questioned whether the FBI raid on Cohen’s office and residence violated the Attorney-Client privilege. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says the seizure of any records violated Cohen’s constitutional rights. Dershowitz also claimed that if Trump were a Democrat, the ACLU would be screaming bloody murder about the FBI raid.
Trump is between a rock and a hard place. If he fires Mueller it will be a political disaster for him and for the Republicans. It will assure that the Democrats will regain control of both the House and the Senate in this coming November elections. If he doesn’t fire Mueller, the Special Counsel’s investigation will likely also result in a political disaster with the same election outcome.
The Democrats are licking their chops in anticipation of Trump firing Mueller. The congressional Republicans are shaking in their boots.
Why is Mueller so determined to destroy Trump? My guess is that it has something to do about Trump firing his buddy James Comey as Director of the FBI.
It appears the demedia and the never trumpers are willing to burn their house down to get rid of Trump. What comes next will likely disappoint them more.
No one who voted for him will care if he fires the special prosecutor. Muller hasn’t come up with anything and it’s looking more and more biased by the day.
Howie, when I first heard this story I thought Mueller had really overreached. But after I read the story, it is clear that Mueller was not involved in the raid on Cohen’s office, other than referring some information to DOJ about a crime, unrelated to the Russia investigation, he had discovered.
The referral ended up on the desk of the US Atty for the Southern District of NY, Geoffrey S. Berman. Berman is a Trump appointee and made the maximum individual campaign contribution to the Trump campaign.
It is extraordinarily hard to obtain a warrant for an attorney’s records. The bar is extremely high. For Berman to conclude that this was necessary would have required very significant proof that a serious crime had been committed. Further, he had to go before a federal judge and convince that judge there was evidence of the commission of a serious crime. For Berman and a federal judge to sign off on this, something is up. It may not involve Trump at all. But it is clear indication that there is very significant evidence that Cohen has committed some serious crime.
Bill, while not initiated by Mueller, the White House believes the Special Counsel will incorporate the Cohen records sized by the FBI into his investigation.
Berman was recused by Rosenstien. Rosenstien signed off on the raid.
AS I recall, and I could be wrong, a search of a lawyer’s office has to be approved not only bu the local US attorney but by Main Justice. That’s why Rosenstien got involved.
As an aside, when I was a reporter for the Chronicle, my desk had more legal safeguards against search warrants than my law office does now.
Thanks, DanMan, I had missed that Berman had recused himself. Of course, the question is that if Mueller discovered evidence of an unrelated crime during his investigation, what is he supposed to do with it? Seems to me he must be bury it or refer it back to DOJ. I don’t think anyone would support burying it. So, I am not sure what else they could have done. Now, if it turns out that the crime of which Cohen is suspected is some kind of technicality, I think Trump and Cohen have something to complain about. But I find it hard to believe that you could go through all the hoops it takes to get warrant for an attorney’s office unless they have something pretty substantial. But we will know soon enough.
From today’s Daily Mail:
Michael Cohen, the embattled personal attorney of Donald Trump, has denied fresh reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller obtained evidence he visited Prague in 2016.
“No matter how many times or ways they write it, I have never been to Prague. I was in LA with my son. Proven!” Cohen wrote in a withering tweet on Saturday. “Bad reporting, bad information and bad story by same reporter Peter Stone,” he wrote.
Cohen was referring to a McClatchy report on Friday, which cited two sources claiming that Mueller’s investigators traced evidence that Cohen visited the Czech Republic August or September of 2016.
Berman did not recuse himself. He was recused by Rosenstien. This detail is not insignificant.