A federal judge on Saturday temporarily locked down the Justice Department’s access to some evidence used in its criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, just as the Trump administration prepares to seek a new indictment after the dismissal of previous charges early last week.

The judge’s order sets up a fast-moving emergency court proceeding over this week that could exclude key pieces of evidence from any future proceeding against Comey, potentially limiting what prosecutors may present to a grand jury after his previous case was dismissed for different reasons.

The development follows a court challenge from Comey’s friend and former lawyer Dan Richman, who went to court after learning federal investigators may have used unauthorized access to his digital communications to prosecute Comey.

Richman asked for his data to be returned and to block the Justice Department from accessing it without proper warrants. The judge temporarily agreed.

“The Court concludes that Petitioner Richman is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the Government has violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures by retaining a complete copy of all files on his personal computer (an ‘image’ of the computer) and searching that image without a warrant,” DC District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a four-page ruling.

Lawsuit from James Comey’s friend could disrupt plans to re-indict the former FBI director

The court orders the DOJ to “identify, segregate, and secure” an image of Richman’s personal computer made in 2017 as well as his Columbia University email and iCloud accounts, any copy of those files, and “any material obtained, extracted, or derived” from the files currently in the government’s possession.

The judge ordered the Justice Department to certify by Monday that it is complying with the court. Further developments in the disputed evidence are expected this week.

The evidence the Justice Department collected from Richman’s online accounts, iPhone, iPad and a hard drive was becoming a serious issue in the recently dismissed criminal case against Comey in Northern Virginia.

Richman, a Columbia University law professor, called the Justice Department’s access to his files a “callous disregard” of his Fourth Amendment rights.