Gambiaj.com – (NEW YORK, UNITED STATES) – A federal judge has ruled that the US Justice Department illegally and unconstitutionally fired Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who handled several high-profile cases, including prosecutions involving Jeffrey Epstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Comey, who served as an assistant US attorney in New York’s Southern District for nearly a decade, was dismissed in July 2025. She later sued the government, arguing that she was targeted because she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump.
US District Judge Jesse Furman ruled on Monday that the dismissal violated both the US Constitution and the Civil Service Reform Act, which establishes protections and procedures governing the removal of federal employees.
“Yes, the Attorney General is authorized by law to remove an AUSA. But the Attorney General … is also limited by law, namely the CSRA, to do so only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons,” Furman wrote.
The Justice Department had acknowledged that Comey was not dismissed because of poor performance or for cause. Prosecutors argued instead that the attorney general, acting under the president’s authority, could not be restricted by Congress in deciding when federal employees should be removed.
Furman rejected that argument, warning that accepting it could undermine longstanding limits on executive power and revive the political patronage system that Congress had sought to dismantle since the 19th century.
Comey is now working as a defence lawyer. The judge ordered the government to pay her back wages covering the period until she took up her new position.
Her legal team described the ruling as “a hard-earned victory” for Comey, civil servants and those defending the rule of law.
The Justice Department said it disagreed with the decision and would appeal.
Following her dismissal, Comey warned her former colleagues that her firing could create fear among career prosecutors and affect their independence.
“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,” she wrote. She urged them not to allow that fear to influence their work.
Furman, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, has not yet ruled on Comey’s separate claim that her dismissal violated her First Amendment rights. He has ordered both sides to submit further arguments on that issue.
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