Crime

Of Course They Had A Wiretap On Cohen’s Phone, They’re Trying To Put Him In Jail, People

Yes, law enforcement is doing everything it does when it's trying to catch a criminal.

By Elie Mystal on May 03, 2018 3:15 pm

Michael Cohen (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

I’m not really surprised that federal investigators got a wiretap for Michel Cohen’s phone in the days leading up to the raid on Michael Cohen’s office. I mean, I am, like in the cosmic sense, “surprised,” to find myself living in a world where the president’s personal attorney appears to be no better than a mafia henchman. But, once we accept the premise of a timeline where the President of the United States has a “fixer” who is under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud, and God knows what else, it should be expected that such a person was under surveillance by federal authorities.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, is probably very surprised. From NBC News:

Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen.

It is not clear how long the wiretap has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the raids on Cohen’s offices, hotel room, and home in early April, according to one person with direct knowledge.

At least one phone call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was intercepted, the person said.

We already knew that Trump called Cohen after the raid. And we don’t know if the Feds have that call on tape. But if he called Cohen before the raid, they have that recorded.

Who knows if anything they pulled from the Cohen wire is germane, but the key thing to focus on is that the FBI was able to obtain a warrant to tap the phones of the president’s personal lawyer.

Conspiracy aficionados will suggest his is yet another example of the “deep state” trying to bring down Trump. Alan Dershowitz might start crying about the excesses of law enforcement power being brought to bear on this poor little white man — while continuing to ignore the plight of actually disadvantaged defendants who could use his help more than Team Trump.

But, I’m forced to think about what kind of dirt investigators must already have on Cohen to get a judge to sign off on a wiretap of Cohen’s phone. That’s not something you just ask for while you are trying to figure out what’s going on. A wiretap on a lawyer is when you already know what’s going on, you can convince other people of your theory, and you’re just trying to nail the guy.

Michael Cohen is going to get nailed. Hard. To a wall. Trump might be starting to distance himself from Cohen, but the wiretap might mean that it’s already too late.

Feds tapped Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s phones [NBC News]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.