This is why Trump is freaking out about the FBI's Michael Cohen raid

Trump reacts to the raid on Michael Cohen
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

On Monday, surrounded by military and national security leaders, President Trump said that the New York federal prosecutor's office had launched "an attack on our country" and "an attack on what we all stand for" by ordering an FBI raid on his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, and suggested he might fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller and/or Attorney General Jeff Sessions. But he was angrier in private, White House sources tell The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and other news organizations.

Trump found out about the raids on Cohen's office and residences late Monday morning, and "caught off guard and furious with the encroaching inquiry, the president showed a flare of temper watching cable news coverage of the raid Monday afternoon," AP reports. Trump also complained frequently about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, The Washington Post adds, "and stewed all afternoon about the warrant to seize Cohen's records ... and asked detailed questions about who was behind the move."

There are several reason this is different that Mueller's indictments of other people in Trump's orbit. First, the investigation is from the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, whom Trump appointed. Second, it reportedly includes Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star and purported Trump paramour Stormy Daniels in October 2016, exposing Trump to a raft of potential new criminal charges. But mostly, it's because "Cohen is Trump's virtual vault — the keeper of his secrets, from his business deals to his personal affairs," the Post explains. Jeffrey Toobin elaborated on CNN Tuesday morning:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
See more

"This search warrant is like dropping a bomb on Trump's front porch," former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance tells the Post. "This strikes at the inner sanctum: your lawyer, your CPA, your barber, your therapist, your bartender," adds Washington attorney Mark Zaid. "All the people who would know the worst about you." If Cohen was involved in shady business, Trump may not be able to count on attorney-client privilege, either.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.