The FBI looked for records related to payments made to a former porn star and an ex-Playboy model who say they had affairs with President Donald Trump when agents raided the office of the president's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, on Monday, The New York Times reported.
Cohen has admitted he paid $130,000 to the adult film star, Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 election as part of a nondisclosure agreement. The model, Karen McDougal, received $150,000 from the parent company of The National Enquirer. The CEO of that company, American Media, is friends with Trump. Both women claim they had sexual relations with Trump while he was married.
Federal prosecutors in New York obtained a search warrant to carry out the raid. It followed a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. He is also looking into possible Trump campaign cooperation with Moscow, a prospect Trump has repeatedly denied.
Cohen's lawyer has called the search warrant "inappropriate and unnecessary." On Monday, Trump called it a "disgraceful situation" and again criticized the Russia probe as a "witch hunt."
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a Trump appointee whom the president has repeatedly criticized, personally signed off on the raid, according to the Times.