The Department of Justice on Wednesday argued in a court filing that a judge's order blocking access to the communications of an associate of former FBI Director James Comey is obstructing its ability to investigate him.

The DOJ is appealing a Monday order by a federal judge that temporarily blocked the department from accessing seized materials from Daniel Richman, which prosecutors relied on in arguing Comey had authorized his friend to make disclosures to the media, The Hill news outlet reported.

Another federal judge tossed the case against Comey last month, finding that U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed when she brought charges against him.

The DOJ argued in the Richman case that blocking access to his emails “has effectively enjoined the government from investigating and potentially prosecuting Comey.”

“Richman’s … motion is not designed to secure the return of property that he needs or wants. It is a strategic tool to obstruct the investigation and potential prosecution of James Comey,” the department wrote in a court filing.

The case brought against Comey included Richman’s emails. The DOJ argued that Comey had lied to Congress in September 2020 when asked about whether he or his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, had leaked details to the press about the 2016 Russia collusion investigation.

Richman’s lawyers on Wednesday wrote, “The government has a vast trove of Professor Richman’s personal and professional data and no lawful basis to retain it. Tellingly, the government does not seriously argue that it did not violate Professor Richman’s Fourth Amendment rights.”

“Rather, it claims that the Court must disregard its repeated Fourth Amendment violations because it needs the fruits of those violations to prosecute James Comey.”

If the DOJ seeks to charge Comey again, then they would face the issue of his testimony now being outside the statute of limitations.