Court Blocks Government Review of Key Files in Comey Investigation

WASHINGTON — The court in a temporary order has prevented the district attorney's office from inspecting materials belonging to Daniel Richman who is a close associate of ex-FBI Director James Comey. This case is the latest development of the revived criminal case against Comey which hasn't been too successful for the prosecutors.

Richman, a law professor at Columbia University, went to court in November accusing the government of illegally accessing his private computer data. He says that while executing search warrants related to an investigation involving Comey, the police exceeded their power and might have infringed his Fourth Amendment rights.

Richman, a longtime friend and confidant of Comey, served as the middleman when they communicated. Prosecutors have alleged that Comey lied to Congress when he said he did not give the go-ahead for the release of classified information. Part of the evidence for the charges is the confidential communication between the two men.

Comey has rejected the accusations. A federal judge has earlier thrown out an indictment against him on the ground that the prosecutor was appointed improperly. Although the case was dropped, the Justice Department under the Trump administration has decided to pursue it.

The police have over the years, at different times, obtained permission to rummage through Richman's computer files, but neither Richman nor Comey were indicted then. It was reported that even though the 2021 investigation was closed, the police kept some of Richman's data. In 2023, as part of the renewed case against Comey, the files of Richman were accessed by prosecutors without a warrant.

In his previous opinion, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick stated that the officials went beyond the limits set by the warrants and that they improperly reviewed Richman’s materials. The unauthorized access may have revealed privileged attorney–client communications and violated constitutional protections.

On Saturday, Federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote a four-page order stating that the government's actions were probably a violation of Richman’s Fourth Amendment rights. She imposed a temporary ban on prosecutors viewing Richman’s files until December 12, 2023, at the earliest.

Kollar-Kotelly argued that a warrantless search by the government endangered the most basic privacy rights of the citizen. The decision is a major blow to the efforts of the Justice Department which is trying to gather evidence in this case that is already riddled with procedural disputes.

The dispute unfolds amid broader political tension surrounding investigations of President Trump and his allies. The DOJ has come under scrutiny for its management of evidence and the way in which the searches are conducted, especially after recent challenges such as the decision of a Virginia grand jury not to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is a political adversary often targeted by Trump.

The judge's decision is also a reminder that there are very stringent constitutional safeguards that need to be observed when the government searches for digital files and especially when there is a possibility of privileged communications being disclosed.

The district attorney's office has stated that they may file an appeal against this decision, hinting at a lengthy legal battle in the future. At present, this case is a clear indication of the conflict between the powers of law enforcement, rights to privacy, and the legal restrictions concerning digital searches which are still unresolved.