Report: Michael Cohen under investigation for possible bank fraud, campaign finance violations


President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, whose New York City office, hotel room, and home were raided by FBI agents on Monday, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post.
Among the records seized were communications between Cohen and his clients and documents related to the $130,000 payment he made in 2016 to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who says she had an affair with Trump. Stephen Ryan, an attorney for Cohen, told the Post the raid was related to an investigation referred by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to federal prosecutors in New York.
Mueller is required to notify Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if his investigators find any information that should be looked at but doesn't fall under his mandate, the Post reports, and he then decides if Mueller's mandate should be expanded or the information is referred to a U.S. attorney's office. Cohen is known for his loyalty to Trump, and left the Trump Organization in January 2017 after spending a decade as one of the company's top lawyers.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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