Tyler Lemons Confesses Kash Patel's FBI Was Reading Previously Seized Material without a Renewed Warrant - emptywheel

"The Fourth Amendment plainly prohibits the government from doing exactly what it seeks to do here: the Arctic Haze warrants were obtained more than five years ago in a separate and now-closed criminal investigation and authorized the seizure of evidence of separate offenses. Yet the government seeks to turn those warrants into general warrants to continue to rummage through materials belonging to Mr. Comey's lawyer in an effort to seize evidence of separate alleged crimes."

"Courts have repeatedly held that the government must execute search warrants within a reasonable period of time, including with respect to electronic data. As the Fourth Circuit has explained, district courts "retain[] the authority to determine that prolonged retention of nonresponsive data by the government violated the Fourth Amendment." United States v. ZelayaVeliz, 94 F.4th 321, 338 (4th Cir. 2024) (citation omitted).6 That authority derives from application of the general "Fourth Amendment reasonableness" standard. Id."

The government obtained Arctic Haze warrants more than five years ago in a separate, now-closed criminal investigation that authorized seizure of evidence of separate offenses. The government now seeks to use those warrants to review a lawyer's materials for alleged crimes different from those originally authorized. Courts require search warrants to be executed within a reasonable time, including for electronic data, and retain authority to find that prolonged retention or delayed review of nonresponsive data violates the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Circuit has applied a general Fourth Amendment reasonableness standard to such delays and suppression decisions.

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