WEBVTT 00:02.066 --> 00:03.966 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: FBI agents today raided and seized communications from President Trump's 00:03.966 --> 00:06.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen. 00:06.666 --> 00:11.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In a statement, Cohen's lawyer called the seizures "completely inappropriate and unnecessary." 00:13.600 --> 00:17.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% He confirmed federal prosecutors had obtained a series of search warrants, upon referrals 00:17.066 --> 00:21.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia probe. 00:21.200 --> 00:25.633 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Multiple news outlets report that agents seized records related to payments Cohen made to 00:25.633 --> 00:28.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels. 00:28.300 --> 00:31.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% She claims she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006. 00:31.833 --> 00:35.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Eric Tucker covers the Justice Department for the Associated Press, and he has been 00:35.266 --> 00:36.533 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% on this story. 00:36.533 --> 00:38.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Eric Tucker, welcome to the "NewsHour." 00:38.633 --> 00:40.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I wonder if you could tell us, what else do we know about these raids today? 00:40.733 --> 00:44.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press: So, we know they took place at his office in Manhattan, 00:44.866 --> 00:49.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% and we know that they seized records relating to multiple different topics, including, as 00:51.833 --> 00:55.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% you mentioned, records relating to the $130,000 that Michael Cohen has admitted making, the 00:56.133 --> 00:58.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% payment he has admitted to Stormy Daniels. 00:58.300 --> 01:02.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We know -- I'm no lawyer, but the idea of attorney-client privilege 01:02.200 --> 01:07.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% is an incredibly sacrosanct part of American law, so what is it that would prompt attorneys 01:09.500 --> 01:12.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% to have been investigated like this, to have these raids conducted? 01:12.766 --> 01:14.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% ERIC TUCKER: That's a great question. 01:14.766 --> 01:18.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And when you actually look at the Justice Department protocol and manuals, they actually 01:18.566 --> 01:23.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% do lay out a mechanism by which you can seize records from an attorney. 01:25.666 --> 01:30.433 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And so what it really does suggest is that this is a process that went through multiple 01:30.433 --> 01:34.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% levels and layers of approval in order to get the action that we saw today. 01:34.433 --> 01:39.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, you know, in an ordinary search warrant, obviously, you have to go to a judge and you 01:39.400 --> 01:43.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% lay out probable cause that a crime was committed and that the records that you're going to 01:43.933 --> 01:48.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% be obtaining will bear out evidence of a potential crime. 01:48.333 --> 01:53.300 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And so one imagine that the government here must really think they have that sort of evidence. 01:55.300 --> 01:57.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Help me understand something that seems a bit confusing on the surface. 01:57.333 --> 02:02.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% If this was a referral from Robert Mueller's office, yet it's relating to Stormy Daniels 02:03.600 --> 02:05.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and Michael Cohen's interactions with her, how does that work? 02:05.766 --> 02:10.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As far as we know, Mueller wasn't necessarily looking into the Stormy Daniels issue. 02:10.333 --> 02:11.333 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% ERIC TUCKER: Right. 02:11.333 --> 02:13.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% That's another great question. 02:13.366 --> 02:17.233 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% We do know, based on on-the-record statements from a Trump campaign associate named Sam 02:17.233 --> 02:21.900 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% Nunberg, that among the questions he was asked before the grand jury were questions that 02:21.900 --> 02:24.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% related to the Stormy Daniels payment. 02:24.700 --> 02:28.466 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% He was around during the campaign and so he says he was asked about that. 02:28.466 --> 02:33.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And so it does appear that special counsel Mueller is taking his mandate seriously to 02:33.000 --> 02:38.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% say, look, I'm responsible for investigating certain elements of President Trump and his 02:38.733 --> 02:41.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% campaign and not others. 02:41.033 --> 02:46.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And so he is empowered and indeed authorized and encouraged to make referrals to other 02:47.966 --> 02:50.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% entities within the Justice Department when he sees activity that might fall outside of 02:50.966 --> 02:53.066 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% his mandate. 02:53.066 --> 02:54.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Eric Tucker of the Associated Press, thank you very much. 02:54.666 --> 02:54.800 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% ERIC TUCKER: Thank you.