John Yang:

It's widely reported the FBI seized thousands of Cohen's records dealing with two women who say they had sexual affairs with Mr. Trump in 2006.

In 2016, Cohen paid $130,000 to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, as part of a nondisclosure agreement. The other woman, Karen McDougal, was paid $150,000 for her story by The National Enquirer's parent company, even though it never reported it.

Some of the documents are said to involve Mr. Trump's communications with Cohen. The disclosure prompted the president to protest today that attorney-client privilege is dead.

In fact, not all communications between lawyers and their clients are privileged. There's the so-called crime fraud exception, for communications made with the intention of covering up a crime. A third-party team of investigators will likely be tasked to decide whether Cohen's messages with the president are protected or not.

In a statement, Cohen's lawyer said the raids were carried out by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, based on a referral by Mueller. The searches were authorized by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel's investigation.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called it a seismic step.