The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday raided the office, home and hotel room of United States President Donald Trump’s aide Michael Cohen in Manhattan. The attorney is being investigated for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations, reported The Washington Post.

The FBI agents seized records about Cohen’s clients, his personal finance papers and documents related to a payment he made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, the report said. Daniels earlier claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump.

The raids came after a “referral” from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, the BBC reported.

Trump called the raids a “disgrace”, an “attack on our country” and a “witch hunt”. “I have this witch hunt constantly going on,” he said.

Cohen is accused of paying Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford,
$130,000 (around Rs 84.4 lakh) on October 27, 2016 – a week before the presidential election – to keep her relationship with the president in 2006 a secret. In March, Clifford offered to return the money in exchange for freedom to “speak openly” about her decade-old affair with Trump.

While Trump and the White House have denied the affair repeatedly, the president obtained a restraining order against Clifford in February to prevent her from publicly speaking about their alleged affair.