A months-long investigation into President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen’s business dealings led to this week’s searches of Cohen’s residence, hotel room, office, safety deposit box and two cell phones, U.S. prosecutors told a judge in a court filing.
The ongoing grand jury probe by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan is being conducted independently of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the U.S. elections, the prosecutors said.
Investigators are seeking evidence of crimes “many of which have nothing to do with his work as an attorney, but rather relate to Cohen’s own business dealings,” prosecutors said. Investigators have reason to believe “that Cohen has exceedingly few clients and a low volume of potentially privileged communications,” they said.