He may wish he had invested in a more high-tech machine to shred sensitive legal documents.
As FBI agents attempt to piece together shredded documents confiscated from President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, is it possible to reassemble documents that have been sliced and diced by a paper shredder?
The answer is yes, but it depends on the type of shredder that's used.
Older model shredders, like the one seized by federal investigators who raided Cohen's office last month, cut paper into long, thin strips. Inside Edition staffers tried to get an idea of what FBI agents are facing, and was able to decipher parts of the shredded strips.
More expensive shredders, on the other hand, leave paper in smaller pieces because they cut horizontally and vertically. Those pieces are very difficult — but not impossible — to reassemble.
These days, there's even software that can reconstruct shredded pieces after they've been scanned to a computer.
The high-tech shredders, however, reduces the paper to tiny confetti.
New Jersey-based attorney Randy Melvin has worked on cases involving sensitive documents that have been shredded.
He said trying to assemble a document that went through the "confetti" shredder "is not a fun moment" for federal investigators.
Cohen is accused of paying adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.
"From what I gather, he was so cheap that he didn't invest in a cross shredder," Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti told CNN's Jake Tapper.
It appears that Cohen may be wishing he had sprung for a new shredder.
RELATED STORIES
