Judge Temporarily Blocks DOJ’s Access to Key Evidence in Comey Case

The judge said Comey’s former attorney, Daniel Richman, will likely succeed on the merits of his claim that the government violated his Fourth Amendment rights.

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to the media after giving a private deposition to the House Judiciary and House Government and Oversight committees in Washington on Dec. 7, 2018. Joshua Roberts/Reuters

A federal judge on Dec. 6 barred prosecutors from accessing evidence seized from ex-FBI Director James Comey’s former attorney, complicating the Department of Justice’s bid to revive a case against him.

In a four-page ruling, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted Daniel Richman’s bid for a temporary restraining order after he filed a lawsuit alleging that prosecutors unlawfully retained materials seized from his electronic devices amid the probe into Comey, who was charged with making false statements to Congress in 2020. The indictment against Comey was dismissed by another judge on Nov. 24.