In what is starting to look more like an attempt at an overthrow of a sitting President in the United States of America, NBC News is not reporting that federal investigators have allegedly wiretapped the phone lines of President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
This frightening report goes on to cite one source with direct knowledge who confirmed that at least one call between the White House and a phone line which is associated with Cohen was indeed intercepted.
If this is true this could very well raise dramatic issues if any conversation between Cohen and Trump were gathered by investigators, who appear to seek revenge because their preferred candidate lost the 2016 election. The report goes on to state that it’s unknown just how long the wiretap had been in place and when it was actually authorized, but it’s believed to have been in place enough time to have led up to the FBI raid on Cohen.
All this is breaking as Rudy Giuliani has joined President Trump’s legal team.
Outrageous! @realDonaldTrump‘s lawyer had his phone tapped and email accounts searched before the raid. Mueller out of control. Shut it down. Rosenstein and DOJ also need to be held to account. https://t.co/HpiLxiSap7
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) May 3, 2018
There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap). What there is is Negotiations going on with North Korea over Nuclear War, Negotiations going on with China over Trade Deficits, Negotiations on NAFTA, and much more. Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018
Here is more on Giuliani’s reaction via The Hill: “The president reportedly called Cohen to check in after the raid. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s newest personal lawyer, learned of the call days later and warned Trump not to call Cohen again because he feared he could be under surveillance, according to two sources who spoke to NBC.
Giuliani reacted angrily to the new report during an interview with The Washington Post.
“It’s not appropriate,” he said. “I mean, he’s a lawyer. You mean, I call up my lawyer and the government is wiretapping him? That’s pretty damn — I mean, they’ve already eviscerated the attorney-client privilege. This would make a mockery of it.”
Giuliani could not confirm independently whether Cohen was wiretapped, according to Post reporter Robert Costa, who spoke with the ex-mayor.
The wiretap report comes at a time when Trump’s legal troubles are deepening, causing the president to reshuffle his team of attorneys in order to push back harder against special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia investigation, and the Justice Department.
Cohen is under investigation for paying adult film-star Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 presidential election to stay silent about her alleged affair with Trump. The investigation was triggered, in part, by a referral from Mueller’s team.
Giuliani said on Fox News Wednesday night that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment, a claim he believed could limit the president’s legal exposure in the probe but also contradicted past claims by Trump that he knew nothing about the arrangement.
Citing two sources, NBC reported Giuliani told Trump that Cohen is likely to flip on him and cooperate with investigators. But Trump disagreed, saying that Cohen has been loyal to him for years.
“Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected,” Trump tweeted in late April. “Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
The President is said to be furious about all this. A person should be allowed to talk to his own personal attorney in private without being stalked.
They originally tried to figure out if candidate Trump had colluded with the Russians and they have already ruled that narrative out. Now they keep trying to find something else in order to remove the president from office.
Here is more on this breaking story via USA Today: “White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders referred questions about the wiretap to the President’s outside counsel.
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.”
Via RWN
