Summary: Earlier today the FBI executed search warrants for the offices and temporary residence of lawyer Michael Cohen. A long time member of the Trump organization, Cohen has recently come into the public eye as the one responsible for 130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, supposedly of his own money, as part of a non-disclosure agreement about any details relating to her alleged relationship with the president. The search warrants were granted following information from the Robert Mueller Russia investigation, but seems to be for a matter unrelated, as Mueller turned the execution over to another set of prosecutors. Of course anything that relates to Russia that is uncovered by the subpoenaed documents would be turned over to Mueller and his council. Trump reacted in his usual way, denouncing the FBI and Robert Mueller, and calling the search warrants "an attack on our country in a true sense".
Analysis: If the FBI was able to get a search warrant for Michael Cohen they had to have had at least reasonable belief of criminal wrongdoing. They followed the law, and got a search warrant, and so they are free to look at Cohen's documents, despite any whining from Trump. I would be very concerned if the FBI had not received a search warrant, because that would be violating our right to privacy. Everything the FBI did was above board, something I am not sure will be the case with Cohen's business transactions, especially is 130,000 dollar payment to Stormy Daniels.
Questions:
1. Do you think it is likely that will Trump will attempt to fire Robert Mueller like he threatens to do so? If so, what possible repercussions might that cause?
2. What do you guys think about the whole Stormy Daniels/Donald Trump/Michael Cohen thing?
3. Do you think we will see more of Trump's allies being investigated as the Mueller probe continues, or do you think that the investigation into Cohen is more the result of the Stormy Daniels thing?
5 comments:
To be quite honest, if Trump really didn't have anything to do with the Stormy Daniels "hush money" then whether any information about Cohen is found in this search really wont make a difference. It's not illegal to have an extramarital affair and those who support him seem to do so regardless of this. I agree, Sam, that getting warrants means there's something worth looking for. If this is basically about Russia then I don't see why the FBI shouldn't search anyone that may have enough of a connection to this that there ca be a warrant for it. Lastly, I really hope Trump doesn't do any more FBI firing because, quite frankly, its just ridiculous. But he doesn't seem to mind the reputation he has so such action isn't unlikely.
I think that Trump will try to have Mueller fired because I feel like he has something to hide. Like Sam said, the FBI would not search Cohen unless there's a real reason and Trump probably thinks that Mueller is getting too close for comfort.
Considering Trump's history of firing so many people it is likely that he will have Mueller fired. However he should consider how guilty that makes him look. If Mueller is fired, hopefully investigations will continue because as Sam said if the FBI got a warrant they must have suspected there was something worth searching for. Russia seems to be the more important issue and probably worth spending more time on than the Stormy Daniels scandal.
I think that it's inevitable that Trump will try to fire Mueller, but of course this would affect his public image considering the huge following behind this case. Overall, Trump's actions just make him seem super suspicious and shady in the midst of all this chaos with the Russia investigation and the Story Daniels thing. I agree with everyone that because the FBI was able to obtain a search warrant, they must have had reasonable cause to do so. It is probable that more of Trump's allies will be investigated, given that the FBI is able to obtain more search warrants.
I am not surprised if Trumps ends up dropping Mueller. The only thing he has to lose though is a friendly on his side. If he fires him, what stops Mueller from snitching? I think that the administration has been going through some crazy things in the past couple months, I guess were all used to this since he became president. I think this is not the end of investigations into Trump's colleagues.
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