Justice Department lawyers said Tuesday that a recent ruling barring their access to key evidence has effectively crippled their efforts to reindict former FBI director James Comey, two weeks after their original case against him was dismissed.

The concession came in a court filing urging a federal judge in Washington to lift a temporary order she imposed Saturday restricting the government’s ability to review or use emails and other electronic communications seized as part of an investigation more than five years ago involving Comey confidante Daniel Richman.

Mr. Richman’s records had played a central role in the Justice Department’s effort to indict Comey on charges he lied during a 2020 congressional hearing about authorizing Mr. Richman to leak information to the media — allegations

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