Bad news surfaces for Donald Trump in FBI raid of his former longtime tax attorney
Two weeks later, we still don’t have any conclusive evidence as to whether the FBI raid of Edward Burke’s office was related to the fact that he spent several years working as Donald Trump’s tax attorney. In addition to being an attorney, Burke is also a Chicago Alderman, where he’s accused of widespread corruption. But even as we wait to find out if this is Trump-related, there is a new development which spells very bad news for Burke – and bad news for Trump.
The Chicago Sun-Times is now reporting that the FBI has seized Edward Burke’s cellphone. Why is this a big deal? Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti explained via tweet that it “indicates that a federal judge concluded there was a good reason to believe that evidence of a crime was contained on Burke’s phone. That could be texts or emails with a co-conspirator who is now cooperating with the government.” So what does this have to do with Trump?
It’s now fairly clear that the raid wasn’t merely some kind of fishing expedition; the Feds have Burke nailed on something specific. Even if it’s not Trump-related, Burke will probably have little choice left but to cut a cooperating plea deal. His best bargaining chip would be to give up whatever he has on Donald Trump. Keep in mind that if a client and his attorney conspire to commit crimes together, attorney-client privilege goes out the window.
So yeah, it’s looking more like Alderman Burke is going to have to give up Donald Trump. Considering that Trump’s other former attorney Michael Cohen just finished helping the federal government to formally accuse Trump in two felonies, the last thing Trump needs is yet another one of his former attorneys selling him out.
