FBI/MICHAEL COHEN/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Federal investigators wiretapped the phone lines of U.S. President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen before the FBI seized records and documents in a raid last month on his offices, hotel room and home, NBC News reported on Thursday [5-3-18]. NBC, citing sources familiar with legal proceedings involving Cohen, said it was unclear how long the wiretap had been authorized, but it was in place in the weeks before the April 9 raids in New York targeting the lawyer. At least one call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was intercepted, NBC quoted one source as saying…The raids were part of a federal criminal investigation of Cohen in New York in part over a $130,000 payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels a month before the 2016 U.S. presidential election to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006…The wiretapping of Cohen, if confirmed, would represent the latest ominous development for Trump, who faces legal difficulties on several fronts. The investigation of Cohen is an offshoot of the ongoing probe by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller into potential collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the investigation. Russia and Trump deny any collusion.”
-Reuters Staff, “U.S. investigators wiretapped phone lines of Trump lawyer: NBC,” Reuters, May 3, 2018 10:38 am