Judge says Comey evidence was wrongfully retained, creating hurdle for new charges

Judge agrees with professor that files were unlawfully retained

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, Jun 8, 2017. REUTERS

Prosecutors must return evidence seized from a key figure in the dismissed criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, but the US Department of Justice can seek a new warrant for the information, a federal judge has ruled.

The ruling is at least a temporary setback for prosecutors mulling another attempt to charge Comey, one of President Donald Trump's critics whom the DOJ has sought to prosecute.

A lawyer for Richman declined to comment on Saturday.

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington ruled that while prosecutors must return files seized from Daniel Richman, a law professor and former attorney for Comey, a copy can be deposited with the court for safekeeping in the event that prosecutors seek a new warrant.

Richman sued last month seeking to bar prosecutors from using material he alleged had been improperly seized from him during a probe in 2019 and 2020. The probe ended in 2021 with no charges.

Kollar-Kotelly, whose ruling was released Friday night, wrote that it was an unreasonable seizure of Richman's property to keep a copy of Richman's files without safeguarding them against being searched without a warrant in a new investigation.

However, the judge declined to block the Justice Department from using or relying on the materials in the future, saying prosecutors should be free to pursue leads based on what they learned from the files and pursue a warrant to obtain them again.

Prosecutors used the files this year to build their case against Comey. The former FBI director was indicted in October on charges of making false statements and obstructing Congress in connection with his 2020 testimony about FBI officials anonymously providing information to news outlets.

A federal judge last month dismissed criminal cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — another of Trump's perceived political enemies — after the judge determined that both indictments were secured by an unlawfully appointed US attorney in Virginia's Eastern District.