President Trump on Tuesday blasted the FBI raid of the office and residence of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, declaring “attorney-client privilege” dead—a point famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz seemed to agree with.
"Attorney–client privilege is dead!" Trump said in a tweet, following up with, “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!”
Attorney–client privilege is dead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2018
A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2018
Cohen is reportedly being investigated for crimes possibly related to bank fraud and campaign finance violations. The FBI is seeking evidence related to the payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.
The raids came after federal prosecutors in New York City obtained a search warrant following a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, Cohen's lawyer said. (CNBC)
Speaking on Fox News Monday, Dershowitz said he believed the move was an attempt to turn Cohen against Trump.
"This may be an attempt to squeeze Cohen," he said. "He's the lawyer, he's the guy who knows all the facts about Donald Trump, and to get him to turn against his client."
"This is a very dangerous day today for lawyer-client relations," he added.
Dershowitz, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, said if this had happened to her we’d be seeing a far different response.
"I tell [clients] on my word of honor that what you tell me is sacrosanct," he said. "And now they say, just based on probable cause ... they can burst into the office, grab all the computers, and then give it to another FBI agent and say, 'You're the firewall. We want you now to read all these confidential communications, tell us which ones we can get and which ones we can't get.'"
"If this were Hillary Clinton being investigated and they went into her lawyer's office, the ACLU would be on every television station in America, jumping up and down," he continued.
"The deafening silence from the ACLU and civil libertarians about the intrusion into the lawyer-client confidentiality is really appalling.”