Five search warrants Special Counsel Robert Mueller sought as part of his investigation into ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen have been unsealed, albeit with some redactions still in place. The warrants, ranging from July 2017 to November 2017, show why the government was keenly interested in searching Cohen’s Gmail, iCloud, and Trump Organization email.

Beryl Howell, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ordered the release in response to multiple media organizations requesting that these documents be made public.

Some of these warrants pertain to the investigation of Cohen’s hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to keep affairs with Donald Trump quiet before the 2016 election. Others related to Cohen’s collection of hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporations, ostensibly in exchange for insights into the Trump Administration. Cohen set up shell company Essential Consultants, LLC to help cover up the payments.

Mueller, you may remember, referred out the Cohen case to the Southern District of New York. The FBI raids on Cohen’s home, office and hotel room took place in April 2018.

Cohen pleaded guilty in Aug. 2018 to violating campaign finance laws, tax evasion and bank fraud. He is currently serving out a 3-year prison sentence in Otisville, New York.

7-18-17 Cohen Search Warrant by Law&Crime on Scribd

8-1-17 Cohen Search Warrant by Law&Crime on Scribd

8-7-17 Cohen Search Warrant by Law&Crime on Scribd

11-14-17 Cohen Search Warrant II by Law&Crime on Scribd

11-14-17 Cohen Search Warrant by Law&Crime on Scribd

[Image via Yana Paskova/Getty Images]

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