Originally Posted by Dafinch
Frankly, if you obtained permission to raid 3 offices of a lawyer, it's almost a given that you'd have wiretapping permission to, but, all and all it's just another brick in the wall. Lol, they're grilling that porker Sanders, and she's squirming and lying up a storm, one reporter just said, "Were you lying to us at the time, or were you in the dark?" Hmmmm, how's that Nobel Prize nomination coming along?ointer:Shush()*:think2:Loser!@#0
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...all/577512002/
Trump attorney Michael Cohen was wiretapped, feds intercepted call with White House: report
Christal Hayes and Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY Published 1:39 p.m. ET May 3, 2018 | Updated 2:18 p.m. ET May 3, 2018
Federal agents obtained a wiretap on President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen that intercepted at least one call between a line associated with Cohen and a line at the White House, NBC reported.
NBC reports the wiretap was obtained in the weeks ahead of the raid on Cohen's office, home and hotel room last month where investigators obtained a slew of documents, including information pertaining to a payment made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress and producer.
The $130,000 was used to quiet her story about an alleged affair with Trump, which the president has denied. The payment is also at the center of a lawsuit by Daniels, in which she hopes to be freed from the non-disclosure agreement she agreed to just days before the 2016 presidential election.
Michael Avenatti, Daniels' attorney, reacted and confirmed the news live on MSNBC, saying what investigators found is likely not going to be good news for Cohen or Trump.
He added, citing information he's learning litigating the case, that the wiretaps were not simply listening to phone calls, but also monitoring Cohen's text messages.
Avenatti said investigators feared the information could be destroyed, which federal agents as a basis for obtaining search warrants to seize Cohen's property in the April raids.
Last month, prosecutors mentioned the possibility of records being deleted in a federal court filing.
Following five lines of redactions, prosecutors said, "As a result, absent a search warrant, these records could have been deleted without record, and without recourse for the law enforcement," the filing reads.
The same court filing, while discussing the lack of privileged attorny-client communications seized, also acknowledges multiple "covert" warrants that monitored Cohen's email accounts.
More: Prosecutors: Probe of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen centers on Cohen's business dealings
More: The $130,000 question: What the White House has said about the Stormy Daniels payoff
More: Donald Trump acknowledges Stormy Daniels payment, denies affair or use of campaign money
One of Trump's attorneys, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, told The Washington Post that he was not informed about any wiretaps but was livid after seeing the news.
"It’s not appropriate. I mean, he’s a lawyer. You mean, I call up my lawyer and the government is wiretapping him?," Giuliani told the Post. "They’ve already eviscerated the attorney-client privilege. This would make a mockery of it."
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law School professor, said the process to get a wiretap on the president would have been incredibly difficult.
"To get a warrant to wiretap Michael Cohen’s phone conversations, the FBI had to comply with highly stringent rules and standards," he wrote on Twitter.
It's unclear what information was uncovered during the reported wiretaps and who was on the phone during the call between Cohen's phone and a line at the White House.
The new details come just hours after Trump admitted to paying back Cohen for the now infamous hush payment to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump had previously denied knowing about the payment.
The president said on Twitter Thursday the agreement was "used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair," adding it was not at all associated with his campaign.
While Trump and Giuliani, who first announced the payback on Fox News Wednesday evening, stressed that the Daniels money came from personal funds, legal analysts said it could be considered an in-kind campaign political contribution because it came right before the election.
That would make it subject to campaign finance laws, and Trump's team never reported the payment.
#NoTrumpers lose again!!
cheersgif