A Bill Clinton-appointed federal judge has dealt another blow to the Justice Department’s efforts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, ruling that crucial evidence seized by authorities was obtained unconstitutionally.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered the DOJ to return computer files and communications obtained from Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and longtime friend of Comey, who the disgraced ex-FBI boss allegedly used as a conduit to leak information to the media.
In her Friday decision, Kollar-Kotelly called the search and seizure of Richman’s data “manifestly unconstitutional” in a ruling that could effectively sabotage the government’s efforts to indict Comey a second time after the first charges were tossed out on a technicality by another Clinton judge who determined that the appointment of U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was invalid.
NEWS: Dan Richman — key figure in now-dismissed Comey case — wins motion for return of materials seized from his devices.
Judge finds his rights were violated, orders that DOJ can only access data pursuant to lawful warrant.
Order could complicate efforts to re-indict Comey. pic.twitter.com/kQdbkV0q9z
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) December 13, 2025
The data was obtained several years earlier as part of a leak investigation that didn’t result in any charges, with Richman alleging that his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by new warrantless searches on the material.
“The Government has violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures and invaded his privacy,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her fiery 46-page opinion. “The Government’s warrantless search of the contents of Petitioner Richman’s cell phone and tablet in September 2025 was manifestly unconstitutional.”
“When the Government violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures by sweeping up a broad swath of a person’s electronic files, retaining those files long after the relevant investigation has ended, and later sifting through those files without a warrant to obtain evidence against someone else, what remedy is available to the victim of the Government’s unlawful intrusion?” Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
Article III Project founder Mike Davis blasted the activist judge’s ruling as more of the lawfare that has become a characteristic of the two-tiered system of justice in America, where Democrats and their allies are protected while bogus charges are used to persecute Trump and other Republicans.
“Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling is part of a larger pattern. Leftist judges like Obama-appointed D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan — who presided over President Trump’s January 6-related case, Boasberg, who signed off on the national disgrace that was Operation Arctic Frost, and many other Democrat judges did nothing to stop and did much to escalate the lawfare waged against President Trump, his aides, and his allies,” Davis wrote in a scathing column published by Fox News.
“Now, the Justice Department is seeking legal accountability for lawfare perpetrators like Comey. Currie and Kollar-Kotelly have endeavored to prevent — or, at the very least, drastically decrease the chances of — such legal accountability,” he continued.
“The inconsistency between the treatment afforded lawfare perpetrators and lawfare targets threatens the very legitimacy of the federal judiciary. If higher courts do not rein in these rogue judges, Congress must do so through oversight, withholding of funds from judicial appropriations, and impeachment. A system where the judiciary enables lawfare and then shields its perpetrators from legal consequences is unsustainable, and higher courts must put a stop to it,” Davis wrote.
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