[ phone rings ] look at you. this tech stuff is easy. [ whirring sound ] you want a cookie? it s a drone! i know. find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. shepard: new today, a source released what a bank flagged as suspicious financial records of president trump s personal lawyer and fixer, michael cohen after learning more reports of suspicious activity were missing from a government database. nobody seems to know how that happened. that s according to the reporting of the new yorker magazine. it reports a law enforcement official was alarmed that reports detailing millions of dollars in questionable cohen transactions were gone. banks are legally required to file suspicious activity records
the person says they were compelled to react after additional documents went missing from the government database. the person behind that describing the alleged leaker s motive. the reason they came forward is because this person was so troubled by what they viewed as clear examples of corruption in the existing reports and so concerned that at least some categories of law enforcement officials are no longer being given access to two remaining reports that potentially have larger transactions in them. that was troubling enough to this veteran official that they said this has to be subject to public scrutiny. this is comply kited because it all start.
united states history. it turned an election. you know, the idea that the trump lawyers are standing around saying it s for his personal life or something like that is to use the technical legal term poppy cock. neal katyal, thanks for being with me. more breaking news to tell you about. it has been a wild day. the new yorker speaking to a law enforcement official who claims to be the individual who leaked michael cohen s bank records. a whistle-blower. the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on cohen s financial activity in a government database. the official worried that that information was being with head from law enforcement released the remaining documents. the two missing reports reportedly involved more than $3 million in additional transactions which we have not seen, triple the amount in the report released last week. with me now to talk about this breaking news, former deputy assistant attorney general and
cohen s financial activity in a government database. the official worried that the information was being withheld from law enforcement released the remaining documents. meanwhile, new reporting from the new york times reveals how the fbi kept the investigation into trump s campaign secret when it started, so as to not influence the election. matt apusso reports, they kept details from political appointees at the justice department. an fbi agent explained in a text that justice department officials would find it too tasty to resist sharing. i m not worried about our side, he wrote. only about five justice department officials knew the full scope of the case, officials said, not the dozen or more who might normally be briefed on a major national security case. the times also reports when the investigation started a small group of fbi officials knew it by its code name, crossfire hurricane.
but this official has decided to make this information public because of this quote, the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on cohen s financial activity in a government database. some financial records related to michael cohen missing from the database. here s what s going on here. banks have to file something called a suspicious activity report, s-a-r, sar, if they suspect something hinky is going on in somebody s bank account, something that looks like it might be money laundering or fraud or some kind of criminal conduct. it doesn t get you arrested but the bank has to file a suspicious activity report. they go to a law enforcement database, and then law enforcement can access that database and use it as a source for leads to go and investigate you if it turns out any of this hinky stuff your bank thinks you might be up to might turn into a criminal case. according to ronan s reporting tonight, the reports are routed to a permanent data