On April 9, 2018, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was greeted by FBI agents as his home and office were subjected to searches conducted by both federal and state agencies. The warrants and other documents related to the search were filed under seal, but immediately following that action, a number of media organizations—including the New York Times, ABC News, the Associated Press, CNN, and CBS—moved to have the information released to the public. The reason the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York gave for keeping the documents sealed was to protect an ongoing investigation. However, now that Cohen has been found guilty and is less than a month away from beginning a three-year prison term, much of what those seals were protecting would seem to no longer apply. And now the public will get a first peek at those documents—but it won’t be a complete reveal.
On Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled that the need to keep the public informed was great enough that the requested documents should be made available. But not completely. There were some legal documents in the requests, like the contents of “customer communications records,” on which Pauley ruled media companies do not have a right to know that overcomes the privacy concerns connected to these records. And the judge also expressed several concerns about many of the materials requested, and how they might affect cases other than Cohen’s.
At this stage, wholesale disclosure of the Materials would reveal the scope and direction of the Government’s ongoing investigation. It would also unveil subjects of the investigation and the potential conduct under scrutiny, the full volume and nature of the evidence gathered thus far, and the sources of information provided to the Government. As courts have regularly observed in the context of ongoing investigations, the disclosure of such information may enable uncharged individuals to coordinate or tailor their testimony and interactions with the Government. … And if the past is any prologue, unmasking those who are cooperating with the Government’s investigation or who have otherwise provided information to the Government could deter further cooperation with the investigation by “subject[ing] those individuals to witness tampering, harassment, or retaliation.”
So while Pauley has ruled that most of the requested materials should be made public by Feb. 28, he’s also allowing the government to apply redactions.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the Media Organizations’ applications are granted in part and denied in part. The Government is directed to submit a sealed, ex parte copy of the Materials by February 28, 2019 with proposed redactions in highlights consistent with this Opinion & Order. After reviewing the proposed redactions, this Court will direct the Government to file the redacted Materials on the public docket in this action. The Government is further directed to submit a status report, ex parte and under seal, by May 15, 2019 identifying the individuals or entities subject to any ongoing investigations and explaining any need for continued redaction of the Materials. …
If any intervening event obviates the need for continued redactions, the Government shall advise this Court forthwith.
Overall, this seems like a very equitable compromise by which many of the documents related to Cohen will be revealed, at least in part. However, it’s likely to touch off another frustrating round of attempts to read behind the redactions, as issues such as Cohen’s tricking women into accepting illegal payoffs from Trump and funneling money into the LLC he set up to coordinate contributions to Trump’s inaugural fund are likely to be behind a lot of black bars.