- Federal investigators wiretapped the phones of President Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources with knowledge of the legal proceedings against Cohen.
- A source told the news outlet that the wiretap was put in place before the FBI raided Cohen’s properties early last month and that among the calls intercepted was at least one with the White House.
- Trump has sought to distance himself from Cohen since the raids, though, according to NBC News, he called Cohen at least once, against the advice of his legal team.
Federal investigators wiretapped the phones of President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources with knowledge of the legal proceedings against Cohen.
One source told NBC News that the wiretap was put in place before the FBI raided Cohen’s properties early last month and that among the calls intercepted was at least one with the White House.
President Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Cohen since the raids, though NBC News reported that Trump had called Cohen shortly afterward against the advice of his legal team. It’s unclear whether that call was intercepted.
Investigators who raided Cohen’s properties were said to be seeking records about a $130,000 payment he made shortly before the 2016 election to the porn star Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about an alleged affair she says she had with Trump years ago.
On Wednesday, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that the president reimbursed Cohen for the payment, appearing to contradict the president's earlier statements that he knew nothing about it.
Some have speculated about whether the payment violated campaign finance laws.
On Thursday morning, Trump said on Twitter that the payment unrelated to his 2016 campaign.
"Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction," Trump said.
Trump and the White House have maintained that the president did not have an affair with Daniels.
