The federal agents who raided the office of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, were looking for records about payments to a former Playboy playmate and to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
That's according to a report on Tuesday from The New York Times. The newspaper, citing several people briefed on the investigation, reported that FBI agents were looking for records of payments to ex-Playmate Karen McDougal and also information related to the publisher of The National Enquirer.
The raid prompted a new blast on Tuesday from the president, who tweeted that "Attorney-client privilege is dead!" And White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president thinks he can fire special counsel Robert Mueller but isn't taking that step now.
McDougal has said she carried on an affair with Trump in 2006 after the birth of his son. The Enquirer's publisher, American Media, paid McDougal $US150,000 but never published her story. AMI has said she was paid to become a fitness columnist.
The Associated Press has confirmed that agents on Monday also seized records related to a $US130,000 payment made to Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in 2006.
A furious Trump, who in the past month has escalated his attacks on Mueller's Russia investigation, said on Monday from the White House that it was a "disgrace" that the FBI "broke into" his lawyer's office. He called Mueller's investigation "an attack on our country", prompting new speculation that he might seek the removal of the Justice Department's special counsel.
On Tuesday, Sanders said Trump believes the raid on Cohen's office went "too far" but she also said that it's a separate investigation from Mueller's probe. Still, Trump "certainly believes that he has the power" to directly fire Mueller, she said, and he has been advised that he has that authority. She did not say where the advice came from.
Justice Department guidelines say only Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller last May, has the authority to fire him and only for specific cause. Rosenstein has repeatedly said that he has not seen any reason to dismiss Mueller
The raid was overseen by the US Attorney's office in Manhattan and was based in part on a referral from Mueller, said Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan.
"The decision by the US Attorney's Office in New York to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary," Ryan said in a statement. "It resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients."
The raid creates a new legal headache for Trump as he and his attorneys weigh whether to agree to an interview with Mueller's team, which in addition to investigating potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign is also examining whether the president's actions constitute obstruction of justice.
And the law enforcement action will almost certainly amplify the public scrutiny on the payment to Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in 2006. The payment was made just days before the 2016 presidential election. Trump told reporters last week that he did not know about it.
