Donald Trump’s personal lawyer had his phone records monitored by the FBI as part of the investigation into a ’hush money’ payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, it has been reported.

The surveillance was in place in the weeks leading up to Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s offices being raided by federal investigators, according to NBC News.

It’s not clear for how long the surveillance was authorised.

It’s thought metadata from at least one phone call between Cohen and the White House was captured.

And it’s thought the US President was warned by his lawyers not to call Mr Cohen again after agents raided his office, hotel room and home.

Investigators seized documents relating to Cohen’s dealings with Stormy Daniels, the porn star Cohen paid off over her alleged affair with the President.

Update: NBC News originally reported the interception as "wiretapping". They later issued a correction, noting only metadata, not call content that was collected.

President-elect Donald Trump meets with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani - his new lawyer (
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Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, claims she had sex with Trump in 2006.

Cohen paid the adult actress $130,000 (£92,000) just before the US election in 2016 to stay quiet about the alleged affair.

Her lawyers have since claimed the agreement has been nullified by statements Cohen has made in public.

President Trump said earlier that Cohen was paid back through a monthly retainer, not campaign funds, for the $130,000 given to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to stop "false and extortionist accusations" she made about a sexual encounter with him.

Trump, who in April told reporters he did not know about the payment to Daniels made by his lawyer Michael Cohen the month before the 2016 election or the source of the money, said on Twitter the funds were part of a "private agreement" that involved money that had "nothing to do with the campaign."

In his fullest account to date regarding the payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump acknowledged the non-disclosure agreement with her to secure her silence about what she has called a one-night sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump also forcefully denied the affair.

"The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair ... despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair," Trump wrote, adding that Daniels and her lawyer had violated it.

"Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll (sic) in this transaction," Trump added.

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The claim of repayment is significant because a payment by Cohen could be seen as an illegal campaign contribution. Trump as candidate would have been permitted to make unlimited personal contributions to his own campaign.

Cohen is currently facing a federal criminal investigation in New York in part over the payment to Daniels, with the FBI seizing material from his office and home. The investigation is an offshoot of the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into potential collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe.

Trump on Thursday said Cohen "received a monthly retainer" from which he entered into the "non-disclosure agreement." Trump described such agreements as "very common among celebrities and people of wealth."

Trump's tweets came the morning after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who joined Trump's legal team last month, said Trump had repaid Cohen the hush money given to Daniels.

Even if Trump repaid Cohen, the payment to Daniels could still be found to be an undisclosed campaign loan in violation of federal election laws, law professor Kathleen Clark of Washington University in St. Louis said.

Clark said Giuliani's statement strongly suggests the payment could have been campaign-related. Omitting the loan from disclosure forms is also arguably a violation of statutes against making false statements to the government, she said.