Weekly Standard editor-at-large and conservative commentator Bill Kristol on CNN Monday said the FBI’s raiding of Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s office, “shows that we are very close to the end game,” of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“This is a huge escalation. This is war,” Kristol said on CNN’s, “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“I believe this shows that we are very close now to the end game. You do not go bust in, get a judge to give you a warrant to search the president’s personal lawyers’ office unless you think you are close to the end of this, you are getting important, vested information.”
The FBI on Monday afternoon seized records from Cohen’s office, including documents related to, in part, a $130,000 payment Cohen arranged to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the election.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrant after Mueller sent a referral. Mueller is investigating whether there was any coordination between Trump's campaign team and the Russian government as part of the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The Times said the search "does not appear to be directly related to Mr. Mueller's investigation, but likely resulted from information he had uncovered and gave" to New York prosecutors.
“This is a big move,” Kristol added. “Mueller could have put this off, he could have tried to get more cooperation from Cohen. The idea that he signs off and goes to a judge to get a judge to sign off on a warrant to do this, I think that’s a big deal.”