Trump administration's firing of prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful, judge rules

The Trump administration's abrupt firing of former federal ​prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful, a US judge ruled ​on Monday, in a victory for the eldest ‌daughter ​of former FBI director and longtime Donald Trump adversary James Comey.

Maurene Comey, who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs during nearly a decade ‌at the Manhattan US Attorney's office, was fired by the Justice Department in July 2025. In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, she alleged that she was fired because of who her father was, in violation of federal laws prohibiting firing civil servants for ‌political reasons and guaranteeing federal employees due process in employment disputes.

The case was seen as a test of whether the Trump administration ‌can swiftly fire line prosecutors like Comey, who are not politically appointed and whose careers tend to span both Republican and Democratic administrations. During his second term, Trump, a Republican, has sought to expand his authority over federal government entities that have historically enjoyed varying degrees of independence from the White House, including ⁠the Justice ​Department. His critics accuse him of ⁠using criminal prosecutions to punish political foes and reward allies.

In court papers, the Justice Department argued that prosecutors like Comey are subject to removal without cause ⁠by the president or the Attorney General because they are delegated a high degree of executive authority when they represent the federal government in court ​in criminal cases. Trump fired James Comey during his first term and has attacked the former FBI director for ⁠his role in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.

The Justice Department last year charged James Comey with lying to Congress about authorizing leaks ⁠to ​the news media, one of the highest-profile instances of the Trump administration using law enforcement to target perceived political enemies. He pleaded not guilty and the case was dismissed after a judge found that the US Attorney who secured the charges ⁠was not lawfully appointed. James Comey has since been charged in a separate federal case with threatening Trump. He has pleaded not guilty.

In ⁠February, Maurene Comey was hired ⁠as a partner at law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. In her lawsuit, she asked Manhattan-based US District Judge Jesse Furman to retroactively reinstate her as a prosecutor through December 2025 so ‌she could get back ‌pay and qualify for retirement benefits.