A federal judge has issued a ruling that temporarily restricts the U.S. Department of Justice from using specific evidence in its pursuit of a new indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. This decision, made by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, does not prevent the department from attempting to indict Comey again, but it indicates that prosecutors may need to proceed without referencing communications between Comey and his associate, Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman.

Comey was initially charged in September with lying to Congress regarding his authorization of an associate to act as an anonymous source for media coverage about the FBI. Prosecutors had cited messages between Comey and Richman as evidence of Comey encouraging media engagement related to FBI matters.

The case was dismissed last month after a different federal judge determined that the prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed during the Trump administration. However, this ruling left open the possibility for the government to seek new charges against Comey, who has been a long-standing critic of President Donald Trump.

Following the dismissal, Richman's legal team sought a court order to prevent prosecutors from accessing his computer files, which had been obtained through search warrants as part of a media leak investigation that concluded without charges. Richman and his attorneys argue that prosecutors exceeded the scope of the warrants, improperly retained communications, and conducted warrantless searches of the files.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly granted Richman's request for a temporary restraining order, instructing the Justice Department not to access the identified materials without prior court approval. She emphasized that Richman demonstrated potential irreparable harm due to violations of his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Justice Department has until Monday afternoon to confirm compliance with the order. It remains uncertain whether the department could successfully secure new charges against Comey, even if it could utilize Richman's communications, as Comey's legal team contends that the statute of limitations for the case has expired. A separate attempt by the Justice Department to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, another figure perceived as an adversary of Trump, also failed recently when a grand jury declined to approve charges.