Judge: Feds can post info on FBI raid of Trump's ex-lawyer
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge directed prosecutors Monday to publicly release documents related to the search warrant for last year’s FBI raids on the home and office of President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III ordered that redacted versions of the documents be released Tuesday.
Media organizations had requested access to the records.
Pauley sentenced Cohen to three years in prison in December for crimes including lying to Congress and paying two women to stay silent about affairs they claimed to have had with Trump.
Cohen, scheduled to report to prison in May, recently testified before Congress in open and closed hearings about his dealings with Trump over the past decade.
In a statement Monday, Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, said the impending release of the warrant furthers Cohen’s interest in “continuing to cooperate and providing information and the truth about Donald Trump and the Trump organization to law enforcement and Congress.”
Pauley ruled last month that some parts of the search warrant documents can remain secret because making them public could jeopardize ongoing investigations. Those portions include information surrounding Cohen’s campaign finance crimes.
The judge said prosecutors can disclose portions of materials related to Cohen’s tax evasion and false statements to financial institutions charges, along with Cohen’s conduct that did not result in criminal charges.
In requesting the records, The Associated Press and eight other media organizations had cited high public interest and a right to access.
Prosecutors had opposed the request, saying disclosure “would jeopardize an ongoing investigation and prejudice the privacy rights of uncharged third parties.” They declined through a spokeswoman to comment Monday.
News organizations in the legal action to unseal the documents included the AP, The New York Times and the parent companies of ABC and CBS News, CNN, the Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday and the New York Post.
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
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