Trump lawyer slams special counsel for 'gross abuse' in Manafort raid, challenges warrant | Fox News
As a long time law enforcement officer and longer time criminal defense lawyer, who has prepared, served, argued and litigated white collar search warrants, I will say it seems Trumps' attorney voices some valid points and concerns here--assuming what he says is factual.
The process in the United States for breaking into someone's home, with 12 armed police and seizing property while effectively holding the occupants at gunpoint are stringent and serious and subject to a myriad of rules regulations and laws – – all of them which must be obeyed and adhered to strictly. That is as it should be.
This is not The German Reichstaag in 1937 with armed brownshirts bullying everybody back and forth at gunpoint. – – this is the United States of America and when the armed police invade a private home – – in the wee hours of the morning, with physical force, essentially at gunpoint – – and strip a citizen of their freedom to move and their property – – we need to be very sure all of the rules were followed to the absolute letter of the law. And maybe they were. I hope so.
Manafort was already cooperating His attorney had prepared materials to help him with his presentation - which raises the attorney-client privilege issue. This is especially crucial since Manafort was already represented by counsel and the government knew it and was working through his attorney.…while he cooperated.
Whoever drafted the affidavit to obtain the search warrant and --whoever in the US Attorneys Office appeared before the magistrate to get it issued, must've known that every single word was going to be scrutinized again and again – – so it would follow that they would dot every I and cross every T with absolute precision.
Still, the circumstances seem pretty odd in a white-collar crime setting. I suggest that there is a lot more to the reasons this warrant was issued than appear on the surface. There must be. An announced risk of flight, if document destruction-- of tampering--I don't think the special counsel is going to be going off half cocked up this early in the case.
Still, from a constitutional law and procedural standpoint I am quite concerned about the way that this went down and I think it needs to be eventually fully explained and litigated.
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