President Trump reportedly called his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, while their lawyers attempted to prevent the Justice Department from reading documents that were seized in an FBI raid of Cohen's hotel and office.
Trump and Cohen's attorneys went to court Friday to try and block officials from accessing information that they claimed was protected by attorney-client privilege, The New York Times reports. Trump reportedly phoned Cohen to "check in," the Times reports. It's not clear what the president discussed with Cohen when he phoned him, sources told the Times, but defense lawyers typically advise clients not to talk to one another when an investigation is ongoing.
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.
Trump told reporters last week that he didn't know about the payment when Cohen arranged it — and prosecutors are reportedly using that against him. The Los Angeles Times reports that Trump's claim of ignorance is being used as evidence that communications between Trump and Cohen about the payment may not be protected under attorney-client privilege.
-
Codeword: November 13, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Sudoku hard: November 13, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Who were the ‘weekend snipers’ of Sarajevo?Under the Radar Italian authorities launch investigation into allegations far-right gun enthusiasts paid to travel to Bosnian capital and shoot civilians ‘for fun’ during the four-year siege
-
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
