The FBI agents who raided the office and hotel room of President Trump's attorney were reportedly looking for information about taxi medallions he owned, CNN reports.
The Monday night raid sent federal prosecutors rifling through Michael Cohen's documents, with what was apparently a sweeping search warrant approved by Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller and is overseeing Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's possible involvement with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Sources told CNN that the raid included a request for information on Cohen's ownership of taxi medallions, which are small metal plates that function as licenses for taxicabs to operate in New York City. The medallions are valuable, peaking at $1.3 million each in 2014, though their value has sunk considerably with the popularization of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. Cohen has owned at least 34 medallions, an analysis by The Real Deal found.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Besides seeking information on Cohen's taxi medallions, The New York Times reports that investigators wanted records of payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cohen has said that he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 in October 2016 as part of an agreement to secure her silence about an alleged affair with Trump. McDougal, who also says she had an affair with Trump, was paid to remain silent by the publisher of The National Enquirer, who is a close friend of the president's. Trump denies both of the affairs.
The search warrant also reportedly sought information related to possible violations of campaign finance laws and possible bank fraud.
-
7 mountain hotels perfect for a tranquil autumn or winter escapeThe Week Recommends Get (altitude) high and unwind
-
‘Deskilling’: a dangerous side effect of AI useThe explainer Workers are increasingly reliant on the new technology
-
The biggest sports betting scandals in historyIn Depth The recent indictments of professional athletes were the latest in a long line of scandals
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
