The FBI didn’t just raid Michael Cohen’s offices. They also raided his hotel room, which is an indication that the FBI has probable cause that there was evidence of a crime in his hotel room.
Vanity Fair reported, “The paparazzi lingering outside the Loews Regency on Park Avenue, hoping to get a photo of U.F.C. fighter Conor McGregor, appeared not to notice the stream of F.B.I. agents who entered the New York hotel early Monday morning, as they made their way up to the room where the president’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been staying. A handful of them remained upstairs for several hours, according to a source familiar with the situation.”
Former US Attorney Chuck Rosenberg explained what the search warrant means, “The Fourth Amendment protects us and our stuff from government intrusion unless an application is made to a federal judge and she signs a search warrant based on probable cause. And so the government must have concluded two things. Probable cause that a crime had been committed, and probable cause that stuff or evidence that would prove that crime would be located in Mr. Cohen’s office.”
Video of Chuck Rosenberg on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House:
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Here is what the FBI's raid of Michael Cohen's offices and hotel room means. https://t.co/B5geDzXGxs #MichaelCohen pic.twitter.com/Y8Cfz7JkOb
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 9, 2018
When the government raided Michael Cohen’s hotel room, they concluded that they had probable cause that a crime had been committed, and that evidence of that crime or crimes could be found in the hotel room.
The FBI and Mueller aren’t playing. The Special Counsel and the FBI now have Trump’s communications with Cohen. It is tricky to know how or if those communications can be used because of attorney/client privilege, but there is no way that this is good news for Trump.
With each new development, a little more of Trump’s world collapses. Investigations take time, but the heat is now on Michael Cohen, and the investigation is closer to Trump than it has ever been.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
