Over the objections of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the federal judge presiding over embattled District Attorney Seth Williams' corruption case has ordered the office to provide federal prosecutors with search terms to filter out the contents of Williams' emails, so that confidential material can be identified and protected.

The District Attorney's Office had expressed concerns over the email searches, arguing that secret grand jury materials, along with individuals' private information, could be exposed in the process.

In a recently unsealed March 23 letter addressed to U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, attorney Catherine Recker, representing First Assistant District Attorney Kathleen A. Martin, said assisting the feds could be dangerous for the District Attorney's Office.