Clinton Judge Orders DOJ to Return All Materials it Seized from Comey’s Media Mole
A Clinton-appointed judge on Friday directed the Department of Justice to return all materials it seized from James Comey’s longtime media contact, Daniel Richman, just a week after she blocked federal prosecutors from accessing key evidence in the criminal case against Comey.
Richman, a law professor and Comey’s confidential media liaison, had sought to prevent the DOJ from accessing his files as the Trump Administration moves forward with plans for a new indictment against the former FBI Director.
The Justice Department originally seized the materials from Richman several years ago. In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly concluded that while Richman is entitled to have the improperly seized materials returned, the government may still use or rely on them in other investigations, provided they are obtained via proper judicial authorization.
A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted James Comey in September on two counts: making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The charges stem from Comey’s September 2020 testimony to Senate investigators regarding whether he authorized leaks to the media.
Newly released emails from November 2016 indicate that Comey actively guided Richman and authorized the dissemination of information to the press. This supports claims made in Lindsey Halligan’s legal case against Comey.
Judge Kollar-Kotelly criticized the DOJ’s handling of Richman’s materials, describing prosecutors’ actions as a “remarkable breach of protocol” and noting they had conducted searches without a proper warrant. Politico reported that the judge found the DOJ had violated Richman’s constitutional rights and misused his materials in its effort to build a case against Comey.
However, the judge also allowed prosecutors a path to regain access to the materials by requiring a copy to be deposited with a federal court in Virginia.
The DOJ responded by saying the ruling “has effectively enjoined the government from investigating and potentially prosecuting Comey,” adding that Richman had “impermissibly used a civil lawsuit to constrain a criminal investigation,” according to Reuters.
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