The emails, dating back to January 2016, were sought by the office of Robert Mueller, the special counsel conducting the Russia investigation, the documents show. The records show that Cohen’s business dealings had already been the subject of an extensive investigation by the time FBI agents conducted a highly public raid on his home and office last April.
The records, including search warrants and materials related to the April raid, were among hundreds of pages of documents released in response to a request by The New York Times and other news organizations.
Lanny J. Davis, a lawyer for Michael Cohen, said in a statement Monday night that the release furthered 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.”
The materials that were unsealed Tuesday came from FBI searches in April on Cohen’s office, apartment, hotel room and a safe deposit box.
The April 8, 2018, search warrant said that the FBI and Manhattan federal prosecutors were investigating Cohen for a range of crimes, including defrauding several banks dating back to 2016 and a scheme “to make an illegal campaign contribution in October 2016 to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.” The warrant also indicated they were investigating him for wire fraud and conspiracy.
Late last year, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws, financial crimes and lying to Congress in two separate prosecutions, one filed by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York and the other by Mueller’s office.
Judge William H. Pauley III sentenced Cohen to three years in prison. He is scheduled to begin serving his sentence May 6 after Pauley granted him a two-month delay in his surrender date because of pending shoulder surgery and his need to prepare for testimony before three congressional committees.
The search materials were made public at the order of Pauley. Last fall, when The Times and other news organizations asked the judge to unseal the materials, the government opposed such action.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.