Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding the FBI’s executed search warrant on the offices of President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and warned against any potential interference with Special Counsel Mueller’s ongoing investigation, including actions against Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Attorney General Sessions:

“Yesterday, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on the New York offices of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the President again engaged in a disgraceful attack on the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel’s investigation, labeling it a “witch hunt” and saying “it’s an attack on our country in a true sense.”  President Trump’s comments demonstrate clear contempt for the rule of law.  The President thinks he is the State, and that an attack on him is an attack on the country.  Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.  The President, like everyone else, is subject to the law, and he should know that he will be held accountable to the law. 

“It is important that we be clear about the legal basis for law enforcement to execute a search of an attorney’s office for personal communications with his or her client.  The U.S. Attorney’s Manual sets out specific rules for obtaining evidence from the attorney of any person who may be a subject or target of an investigation.  In short, the Department would only have taken this step if it was convinced that Mr. Cohen would not respond to a less intrusive response, was likely to destroy evidence, or both.

“By all accounts, the Department of Justice has conducted this investigation by the book.  In the course of his work, Special Counsel Mueller uncovered some evidence of possible criminal activity.  He brought this evidence to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, as Department regulations suggest he should.  The Deputy Attorney General considered the evidence and referred the case to the office of the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York.   Because an investigative step like this must be approved at the highest levels of the Department, Mr. Rosenstein also signed off on the application for the warrant.  Then all of this information—both the evidence and the careful process—was reviewed by a federal magistrate.  The court had to be convinced, not only that there was probable cause of specific criminal activity, but that circumstances justified this extraordinary action.  None of these decisions were made lightly. 

“Suggestions that there was any violation of attorney-client privilege misunderstands—or worse, ignores—the crime-fraud exception, which is critical to ensuring such a privilege isn’t used to hide criminality from our justice system.  Lawyers have a constitutionally protected role to play in advising and defending their clients, but that privileged relationship does not extend to furthering criminal activity, which is not only unethical but illegal, and therefore can be prosecuted.

“Finally, we must again state the obvious: there is no evidence for President Trump or his allies to dismiss the Special Counsel investigation as biased in order to further discredit and potentially move to disable Mr. Mueller and his team.  Any move against Special Counsel Mueller, against Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein who oversees the Special Counsel’s office, or against Attorney General Jeff Sessions who is recused from such matters, must be seen for what it truly would be – the obstruction of justice and an abuse of power.  If the President were to move in any way to undermine or interfere with the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation, based on his consistent rhetoric it would appear to be the actions of a guilty party.” 

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