Judge orders public release of redacted Cohen raid documents

A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered prosecutors to publicly release redacted copies of search warrants and other documents tied to last year’s FBI raid on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s properties. 

U.S. District Judge William Pauley III filed an order Monday morning approving the government’s proposed redactions to the search warrant materials, including those to obscure Cohen’s email address, phone numbers, apartment number and safety deposit box. Pauley ordered prosecutors to publicly file the documents on Tuesday. 

The order means that the public is likely to soon learn more about the April 2018 FBI raid on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room that eventually led to the former Trump confidant pleading guilty to a series of federal charges last year.

In early February, Pauley ordered the partial release of copies of search warrants, warrant applications and supporting affidavits and riders connected to the raid after a group of news organizations petitioned for their release.

“The public interest in the underlying subject matter of the Materials — which implicates the integrity of the 2016 presidential election — is substantial,” Pauley wrote in a 30-page opinion filed on Feb. 7.