Two financial activity reports missing from a government database prompted a law enforcement official to leak the banking records of Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer to President Trump.
Last week, Michael Avenatti, a lawyer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, posted a document with Cohen’s confidential banking information. Daniels received $130,000 from Cohen just before the 2016 election to remain silent about an alleged affair she had with Trump.
The information that leaked came from a suspicious-activity report from First Republic Bank, where Cohen’s shell company Essential Consultants LLC, with which he used to pay Daniels, had an account. The disclosure unveiled various financial ties that Cohen has, including to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
The leaker told the New Yorker that two prior suspicious-activity reports from that bank, involving bigger transactions, were missing from a Treasury Department database known as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the official said, “what alarms me the most” is that they might be withheld from officials.
“I have never seen something pulled off the system. … That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned,” the official said, adding, “That’s why I came forward.”
The report also cites multiple former government officials and experts with experience dealing with FCEN, with some noting the information may have been restricted due to sensitive material — described as a rare move.
Following the leak last week, the Treasury Department’s inspector general said it would be “inquiring into allegations” that information from suspicious activity reports filed based on Cohen’s financial transactions were “improperly disseminated.”
Cohen is under federal investigation for potential bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations. His office, hotel room, and home were raided by the FBI last month.
