Politics

Watch: White House takes questions after FBI raids office of Trump's personal lawyer

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The White House will take reporters' questions on Tuesday afternoon — the first such briefing since President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer saw his office and residence raided by the FBI.

Trump already sounded off on the raids in remarks on Monday evening, ahead of a round-table meeting with military officials on the U.S. response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Trump said the raids of Michael Cohen's residence and office, carried out through a search warrant by FBI officials who reportedly received a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, were "a disgraceful situation" and a "total witch hunt."

The president also described the special counsel itself, which is tasked with investigating links between the Trump campaign and Russia, as "an attack on our country in a true sense."

The New York Times reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed off on the raid.

The Times also reported that investigators were looking for information about two women who allegedly received payments from Cohen as part of hush deals barring them from discussing separate affairs with Trump.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning the White House confirmed that Trump will not be traveling to South America as was originally planned for this week.

"President Trump will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru or travel to Bogota, Colombia as originally scheduled," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to the countries in Trump's place, she said.

"The President will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world," Sanders added.