'Lordy, There Are Tapes!': MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace Explains Why the Cohen Wiretap Report Looks So Bad for Trump

Cody Fenwick
and
AlterNet
03 May 2018

President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen was reportedly wiretapped by federal investigators, and that may be terrible news for the White House.

"Lordy, there are tapes," said MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace of the news, echoing fired FBI Director James Comey's phrasing after Trump implied he had recordings of their conversations. "It's not clear when the surveillance began, but we've learned it was in place in the weeks prior to the raids on Cohen's offices, hotel room, and home in early April."

She continued: "We've also learned that at least one phone call between Cohen's phone line and the White House was intercepted. We don't know for sure if that call came from the president, but we do know that Trump placed a call to Cohen days after the raid."

If Cohen was acting as Trump's lawyer in any conversations intercepted by a federal wiretap, such discussions would be off-limits for prosecutors to examine. But if the president and Cohen discussed criminal activity or other topics outside of the scope of the lawyer-client relationship, it could potentially be used against either in an investigation or indictment. 

Watch the clip below:

UPDATE: NBC News has issued a correction after this report was published saying that federal investigators have "monitored" Cohen's calls, but they have not been listening to or recording the content of those calls.