Prosecutors Oppose NYT Bid to Unseal Michael Cohen Warrants

(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors in New York are opposing a request from the New York Times to unseal search warrants and related materials having to do with Michael Cohen, saying releasing the documents would affect an ongoing grand jury investigation.

The Times on Thursday sent a letter to U.S. District Judge William Pauley asking for "copies of the search warrants, search warrant applications, supporting affidavits, court orders and returns on executed warrants" related to April 9 searches of Cohen’s home, hotel room and office.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan responded Friday with a letter saying the government will oppose the request and asked to file some of its reasoning under seal.

Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty in August to violating campaign laws at the "direction" of a political candidate who’s been identified as Trump. Cohen helped facilitate hush-money payments to two women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump.

Pauley gave prosecutors until Oct. 26 to reply to the request from the New York Times. He also granted the government’s request to file part of the response under seal, for Pauley’s eyes only.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter Jeffrey

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