Judge Rules Maurene Comey Was Unlawfully Fired as Federal Prosecutor

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, a longtime federal prosecutor in New York and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ordered the Justice Department to reinstate Comey retroactively and provide back pay from her July 2025 dismissal through Dec. 20. Furman found that Congress had given the attorney general authority to remove federal prosecutors but had imposed limits that the government conceded were not followed in Comey’s case.

Comey served for about a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and worked on several prominent prosecutions. After her dismissal, she sued the Justice Department and other defendants, alleging violations of constitutional separation-of-powers principles, the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment due-process protections. She argued that she had been targeted because of her father’s adversarial relationship with President Donald Trump or because of her perceived political views.

Furman rejected the government’s argument that federal prosecutors exercise presidential powers that Congress cannot restrict. He wrote that accepting such a claim would conflict with longstanding Supreme Court precedent and disrupt the balance established by the constitutional system.

Comey’s attorneys praised the decision as a reaffirmation of legal protections for civil servants and constitutional checks and balances. The Justice Department and White House did not immediately comment.