Federal authorities investigating Russian interference in the presidential election obtained search warrants for emails of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, beginning in July 2017, according to documents released Tuesday that provided a glimpse into the earliest stages of the inquiry into the president.

The documents show that by the time F.B.I. agents conducted a highly public raid on Mr. Cohen’s home and office in April of last year, his business dealings had already been the subject of an extensive investigation.



The records, including search warrants and other materials related to the April raid, were among nearly 900 pages of documents that a federal judge unsealed in response to a request by The New York Times and other news organizations.

The records were heavily redacted. More than 150 pages were fully blacked out, and many had names or portions of the material obscured, mostly because they were related to the continuing investigation of the Trump Organization.

