How Trump let the FBI into Cohen's email, and 4 more takeaways from Mueller's search warrant
On Monday, a judge in the Southern District of New York ordered the public release of a search warrant that allowed the FBI to raid the office and hotel of President Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen in April 2018. The 269-page warrant reveals that investigators were looking into Cohen as early as July 2017, and provides new insight on what led him to cooperate with prosecutors. Here are five more stunning takeaways from the release.
1. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office suspected Cohen was a foreign agent. Beyond the crimes Cohen was eventually charged with, the warrant also said Mueller probed Cohen on suspicion that he committed money laundering and acted as an unregistered foreign agent.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. FBI agents didn't want to knock on the wrong door. FBI agents used a cell phone tracker called a "triggerfish" to figure out exactly which room Cohen was using in a Manhattan hotel, NBC News details. They also wanted a device that would track Cohen's incoming and outgoing calls, but didn't want to listen in on them.
4. Trump exposed Cohen's Gmail. Despite the warrant's orders, Google wouldn't hand over data stored on "servers located outside of the United States." But Trump soon signed a law giving U.S. law enforcement enhanced access to overseas servers, prompting U.S. prosecutors to return to court and eventually win access to Cohen's Gmail.
5. There's a lot still left sealed. At least 19 consecutive pages covering an "illegal campaign contribution scheme" allegedly involving Trump were redacted in Tuesday's release. That implies a SDNY investigation — which already turned out a plea deal with Cohen — is still ongoing, CNN's Manu Raju says.
Find the whole warrant here.
-
Political cartoons for February 1Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Tom Homan's offer, the Fox News filter, and more
-
Will SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic make 2026 the year of mega tech listings?In Depth SpaceX float may come as soon as this year, and would be the largest IPO in history
-
Reforming the House of LordsThe Explainer Keir Starmer’s government regards reform of the House of Lords as ‘long overdue and essential’
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
