After months of speculation, the FBI has raided the house of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The raid concerned alleged hush money paid to two women claiming they had sexual affairs with the president as well as documents about a vulgar comment the president made on an Access Hollywood tape. Prosecutors have stated that their main goal is to discover information regarding the possibility of additional hush payments made by Cohen, and if he took any other steps to protect Trump’s campaign in 2016. The search has come with harsh backlash from President Trump and his supporters, who believe the search is about the investigation on Russia collusion conducted by Robert Muller’s special counsel. The raids on Cohen’s house have stalled compromise between the presidency and the special counsel.

A warrant cannot be granted without the signature of a judge, and to receive that signature the prosecution must prove that there will be significant evidence at the target area. Rod Rosenstein, the Attorney General, signed this warrant personally. In Cohen’s case, the warrant the prosecution received could violate the attorney-client privilege, if they attempt to convict the president based on information found in the raid. This buffer is set in place to protect statements a client has made to his lawyer from prosecution, with Trump as the client in this scenario. Prosecutors have only stated that the information seized will not be used in Muller’s separate investigation, but have not specified the scope of their own investigation.