U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. also would not suppress evidence found during a search of the home of codefendant Leonard P. Luchko, a former Senate computer technician.

Yohn did, however, set a hearing for Tuesday on one remaining aspect of Fumo's argument - that the warrant for the search of his Philadelphia office was faulty because it mistakenly included language from another search that had already taken place.

Yohn said he wanted to make sure that the magistrate judge who approved the search warrant was not acting as a mere "rubber stamp" for law enforcement.

Fumo, 64, who has been a powerful Democrat in Harrisburg for decades, is scheduled to stand trial, beginning Sept. 8, in a sweeping corruption case that accuses him of defrauding the state Senate and two nonprofit groups and trying to obstruct the investigation.

Fumo's lead defense attorney, Dennis J. Cogan, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease, who is gearing up to try the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer, said they were pleased with the ruling - which paves the way for what they believe is key evidence to be presented to the jury.

Fumo has been fighting since well before his indictment to keep such evidence out of the hands of prosecutors and the FBI and IRS. He even asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, but the high court refused.

Luchko and Mark C. Eister, another former Senate computer technician, were indicted in July 2006 on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

They are accused of destroying e-mail related to the investigation of Fumo and the South Philadelphia charity he backed, Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.

Fumo and a third former aide, Ruth Arnao, were added as defendants when they were indicted in February 2007.

All four have pleaded not guilty.

The first search warrant attacked by Fumo's defense team was a February 2005 warrant targeting Fumo's South Philadelphia legislative office.

The warrant, based on a 40-page FBI affidavit, allowed seizure of e-mail and documents mostly pertaining to Citizens' Alliance and alleged efforts to destroy documents and e-mail.

Yohn said he found no reason to suppress any of the evidence, but wanted to hold the hearing to examine the issue raised about the mistaken language in the warrant.

Fumo contended that the mistake suggested that the magistrate judge had not adequately reviewed the warrant before signing it.

But prosecutors responded that the error was in small print at the bottom of the warrant and had been left on the form from an earlier search in the case. They said it was "clearly irrelevant" to the magistrate judge's authorization to carry out the search.

Yohn also concluded that there was no reason to exclude any evidence obtained during the Oct. 19, 2005, search of Luchko's home in Delaware County.

The third warrant, issued in January 2007, permitted a search of extensive computer evidence that already had been seized during the FBI and IRS investigation. Yohn also concluded that evidence may be admitted.