Story highlights The documents shed new light on how the FBI framed its argument for access to the emails

Clinton was ultimately cleared by the FBI two days before the election

(CNN) The fact that Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin previously exchanged classified emails gave federal prosecutors probable cause to justify their review of Anthony Weiner's laptop last fall, according to a search warrant application released on Tuesday.

The review of the laptop -- publicly disclosed less than two weeks before the election -- jolted Clinton's campaign and resurfaced the controversy over her use of a private email server at the State Department.

The search warrant and supporting documents -- previously issued in late October but ordered unsealed by a federal judge Monday -- shed new light on how the FBI framed its argument for access to the emails and what federal investigators hoped to find. More specifically, investigators sought information on those who accessed classified information, communications with Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state and "activity related to a computer intrusion."

Eleven days before the 2016 presidential election, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI discovered emails possibly "pertinent" to the Clinton email server probe "in connection with an unrelated case." That unrelated case was New York prosecutors' separate investigation into allegations that Weiner -- a former New York congressman and the estranged husband of Abedin -- had allegedly sexted with an underage girl.

Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Huma Abedin, longtime aide to former U.S. Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, arrives to speak to the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday, October 16. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin watches as Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton speaks during the David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum at Columbia University on April 29 in New York City. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin (right) looks on during a news conference following Clinton's keynote speech at a Women's Empowerment Event at the United Nations on March 10. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career (Left to right) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, their daughter Chelsea Clinton and Abedin leave the official memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium December 10, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin stands with her husband, Anthony Weiner, during a news conference on July 23, 2013 as he addressed new allegations that he engaged in lewd online conversations with a woman after he resigned from Congress for similar previous incidents. Weiner was running for mayor of New York City at the time. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career In this photo illustration, Weiner (left) appears with Abedin in a YouTube video announcing he will enter the New York City mayoral race on May 22, 2013. Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after admitting to tweeting lewd photos of himself and engaging in inappropriate online relationships with other women. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledges Abedin at an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 10, 2012 in Washington. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin talks with a guest during an Iftar dinner at the White House August 10, 2011. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) and Abedin arrive for a NATO Foreign Minister family photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin April 14, 2011. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) receives a note from Abedin as she testifies about the State Department's 2012 budget during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on March 10, 2011 in Washington. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (left), accompanied by Abedin (center), greets people before a meeting on the Flood Emergency in Pakistan September 19, 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin (right) accompanies then-Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) after Clinton voted in the Democratic primary election on February 5, 2008 in Chappaqua, New York. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton greets people during a campaign stop at The McConnell Center January 7, 2008 in Dover, New Hampshire, as Abedin stands behind her. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Clinton (right) greets people during a campaign stop at Aeroservices, Inc. on January 4, 2008 in Nashua, New Hampshire, accompanied by Abedin. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Huma Abedin's life and career Abedin walks with Clinton at Andrews Air Force Base in 2000 as the Clintons prepared to leave for a wedding in Arkansas. Hide Caption 15 of 15

Though neither Abedin nor Weiner are identified by name in the newly released search warrant documentation, and the court ordered the materials redacted, the affidavit in support of the warrant makes clear that the FBI argued that there was further probable cause to search Weiner's hard drive in light of the fact that Abedin and Clinton previously exchanged classified emails.

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