US judge rules Justice Department unlawfully fired prosecutor Maurene Comey and orders her reinstatement; department says it will appeal
Judge Jesse Furman ruled in Manhattan on Monday that the firing of Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor and daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, in July 2025 was unlawful. He ordered her retroactive reinstatement with back pay. The Justice Department said it disagreed and would appeal.
A federal judge in New York ruled on Monday 26 October that the US Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, a former assistant US attorney and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, and ordered that she be retroactively reinstated, CNBC and NBC News reported.
Judge Jesse Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered back pay from 16 July to 20 December 2025, the date he inferred Comey had taken another job. Comey, who worked on the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean “Diddy” Combs, was fired in July 2025 and later sued the department.
The ruling
Furman rejected the department’s arguments that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi could remove a federal prosecutor “at will” and that current Attorney General Todd Blanche could ratify the firing afterwards, CNBC reported. He described another of the department’s arguments, that the firing itself amounted to a finding of cause under the Civil Service Reform Act, as one that “borders on frivolous”. On the department’s argument that the Constitution gave the attorney general the power to fire her, he wrote that the court “is bound to follow the Supreme Court’s precedents unless and until the Supreme Court overturns them”.
The judge did not rule on Comey’s claim that the firing violated her First Amendment rights, and gave her until 9 November to argue why that claim should not be dismissed as moot.
Reactions
“The Department disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course,” the Justice Department said in a statement. Comey’s lawyers said: “This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law.”
James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired as FBI director in 2017, faces a separate federal prosecution over an Instagram post; his lawyers are seeking to have that case dismissed, CNBC reported.
Sources
- Trump DOJ unlawfully fired Epstein prosecutor Maurene Comey, judge rules · CNBC
- Judge orders DOJ to reinstate former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of ex-FBI director · NBC News
- Judge rules Maurene Comey was unlawfully fired by Justice Department · The Hill
- Comey v. United States, 25-CV-7625 (JMF), Opinion and Order · US District Court, Southern District of New York (via Just the News)
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