Attorney-Client Privilege Definition Under Debate

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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump holds a law enforcement roundtable on sanctuary cities, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

The President and his supporters are outraged by the seizure of documents Monday from the offices of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s lawyer. They say the move is a violation of a legal protection known as attorney-client privilege, USA Today reports.

Attorney-client privilege gives a client the right to keep his or her communications with a lawyer confidential. So the FBI raid raised questions about whether that right had been infringed, as Trump tweeted this morning:

But legal experts said no. The action was unusual, but they contend, the way the Justice Department conducted the raid indicates its careful consideration of the attorney-client privilege. The order for the raid had to come from the highest levels of the Justice Department, said Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, and deputy assistant attorney general. It was likely approved by Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general. And that there is no attorney-client privilege if there was a discussion of a crime.