-- Special Counsel Robert Mueller began looking into President Donald Trump’s onetime personal attorney Michael Cohen soon after beginning his investigation, newly unsealed documents show. By the time FBI agents raided Cohen properties, they show, prosecutors already had gathered considerable information about alleged campaign finance violations.
* Investigators appeared to have gathered considerable information related to campaign finances, details of which are still being withheld from the public. Several of the affidavits include a section called “The Illegal Campaign Contribution Scheme,” in each case followed by more than 18 pages blocked out in gray. Cohen has since said that Trump directed payoffs, in violation of campaign-finance laws, to women who claimed to have had affairs with him.
* Cohen used the value of his taxi medallions as collateral for some $20 million in loans. As the value of medallions began to decline in 2015, Cohen renegotiated the repayment schedule, but by October 2016, he had trouble making his monthly payments. Cohen informed the banks that he had found a buyer for the medallions, which would bring him enough cash to pay the $21.4 million balance on his loans. The proposed sale never closed.
* The raid captivated the nation, dominating news broadcasts and unleashing a wave of commentary about the danger records of the president’s longtime lawyer may pose to Trump, his company and his inner circle. Around the time, Cohen had said he would’ve taken a bullet for Trump.