Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz explained on Fox News Monday how the FBI’s raid of Michael Cohen’s office spells danger for lawyer-client relations.
WATCH:
The New York Times reported Monday afternoon that the FBI had raided the office of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, adding that the agency allegedly seized documents containing conversations between the president and Cohen. (RELATED: Report: FBI Raids Office Of Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen)
Dershowitz warned about what the raid could mean for attorney-client privilege in the United States.
“This may be an attempt to squeeze Cohen — he’s the lawyer, he’s the guy who knows all of the facts about Donald Trump — to get him to turn against his client,” Dershowitz explained in an interview with Sean Hannity. “This is a very dangerous day today for lawyer-client relations.”
“I deal with clients all the time — I tell them on my word of honor that what you tell me is sacrosanct,” he continued. “And now they say, just based on probable cause…they can burst into the office, grab all of the computers, and then give it to another FBI agent and say, ‘you’re the firewall, we want you now to read all of these confidential communications [and] tell us which ones we can get and which ones we can’t get.'”
Dershowitz added that if the same thing happened to a lawyer for Hillary Clinton, the American Civil Liberties Union would be throwing a fit.
“The deafening silence of the ACLU and civil libertarians about the intrusion into the lawyer-client confidentiality is really appalling,” he concluded.