By Ahmed Aboulenein and Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Saturday temporarily barred prosecutors from using evidence seized from a key figure in the dismissed criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, as the Department of Justice weighs new charges, court documents showed.
Daniel Richman, a law professor and former attorney for Comey, had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging prosecutors violated his Fourth Amendment rights by seizing material from his electronic devices during investigations in 2019 and 2020.
In granting a temporary restraining order on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote that “Richman is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the government has violated his Fourth Amendment right … by retaining a complete copy of all files on his personal computer … and searching that image without a warrant.”
Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ordered the government to “identify, segregate, and secure” the materials from Richman’s devices, prohibit their access without court approval, and comply by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 8.
Prosecutors had relied on those files to indict Comey on charges of making false statements and obstructing Congress in connection with his 2020 testimony regarding FBI officials anonymously providing information to news outlets. The indictment alleged Richman, once a special FBI employee, communicated with reporters about investigations into Hillary Clinton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2016 election.
The ruling by Kollar-Kotelly remains effective through December 12 or until there is further court action.
Her decision comes as the Justice Department considers another indictment of Comey. The original case was dismissed on November 24 after another judge determined that the lead prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed.
The lawsuit by Richman adds to the legal obstacles prosecutors face in potentially reviving the case. Richman has asked the court to order the deletion or return of the seized material and to prohibit its use in any future efforts to indict Comey.
Separately, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick raised concerns last month about the mismanagement of Richman’s seized materials during an earlier investigation into possible leaks of classified information. Neither Comey nor Richman was charged in relation to that probe.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and Bhargav Acharya; Additional Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Sergio Non and Thomas Derpinghaus)
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