Court rules unlawful the firing of Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI head

Court orders reinstatement of prosecutor

Federal judge Jesse Furman ruled on Monday that the US Department of Justice unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York and the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, who lost her post in July 2025. The court ordered the Trump administration to reinstate her and pay back wages for the period from July to December 2025, when Comey took up a new job. This was reported by BBC News.

Grounds for the ruling and the Justice Department's position

In his ruling, the judge stated that the dismissal violated the US Constitution and Comey's right to due legal process: the attorney general may fire federal prosecutors, but only 'in a certain manner and for certain reasons.' Furman also noted that Comey had received 'the highest praise from supervisors and colleagues.' Comey herself argued in the lawsuit she filed in September 2025 that she was fired 'solely or substantially because her father is former FBI director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political views, or both'; she had previously said that the only reason she was given was that the decision 'came from Washington.' The Justice Department argued in court filings that the decision was made by former attorney general Pam Bondi. A department spokesperson said it disagreed with the verdict and 'will appeal it at the appropriate time.'

Context: cases and the prosecution of her father

Maurene Comey worked on cases against Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who last year was convicted on prostitution-related charges. Her father, a critic of President Donald Trump, is himself under pressure from the authorities: the administration has twice brought charges against him, including allegedly false testimony to Congress, but a judge dismissed that case, finding the prosecutor's appointment unlawful. Earlier this year, the Justice Department accused Comey of willfully threatening the president's life over a photo of seashells on a beach arranged on Instagram in the shape of '86 47' — the slang term 'eighty-six' means 'to get rid of,' while 47 is Trump's number as the 47th president; he denies the accusations. Comey's lawyers called the court's decision 'a hard-fought victory' that belongs to 'all public servants and everyone who fights for the rule of law.'

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