President Donald Trump’s administration illegally fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, a federal judge ruled Monday, delivering a legal setback to the Justice Department and a victory for the daughter of one of Trump’s longtime political adversaries.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Comey’s abrupt dismissal in July 2025 violated legal protections limiting the executive branch’s power to remove certain federal officials. The judge said centuries of legal precedent supported Congress’s authority to place limits on the president’s ability to fire government officers.
The ruling is significant because it challenges the administration’s claim that prosecutors like Comey can be removed at will simply because they exercise executive authority when representing the federal government in criminal cases.
Comey, who worked in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office beginning in 2015, helped prosecute several high-profile cases, including that of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate, and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
She was fired by Trump’s Justice Department just months into his second term.
In her lawsuit, Comey argued that she was targeted because of her father, former FBI Director James Comey, who has long been a fierce critic of Trump. She alleged that her dismissal violated federal protections against politically motivated personnel decisions and denied her due process.
The administration disputed that argument, claiming prosecutors in positions like hers are subject to removal without cause by the president or attorney general.
Furman rejected that broad interpretation of executive power.
“To accept defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this nation’s constitutional system,” the judge wrote.
The judge ordered Comey retroactively reinstated as a prosecutor through December 2025, allowing her to seek back pay and qualify for retirement benefits.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case was closely watched because it raised a fundamental question: How much power does a president have to remove career prosecutors who were not politically appointed and whose service often spans multiple administrations?
Trump has sought to exert greater control over federal agencies during his second term, including the Justice Department. Critics argue that his administration has used criminal investigations and prosecutions to target political opponents while treating allies more favorably.
The ruling against Maurene Comey adds another legal challenge to that broader effort.
Furman, who sits in Manhattan and was appointed by former President Barack Obama, grounded his decision in the constitutional balance between Congress and the executive branch. His ruling says the administration cannot simply disregard legal limits on the removal of certain federal officers.
The decision does not, by itself, resolve every question about the administration’s treatment of career prosecutors. But it rejects the Justice Department’s argument that the executive branch has unrestricted authority to remove officials in positions like Comey’s.
The dispute comes amid a long-running conflict between Trump and James Comey.
Trump fired the elder Comey as FBI director in 2017, while the bureau was investigating contacts between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. James Comey later publicly criticized Trump, including in 2018, when he called the president morally “unfit to be president.”
The feud has continued into Trump’s second term.
Last year, the Justice Department charged James Comey with lying to Congress about authorizing leaks to the news media. He pleaded not guilty, but a judge dismissed the case after finding that the federal prosecutor who secured the charges had not been lawfully appointed.
James Comey has also pleaded not guilty in a separate federal case accusing him of threatening Trump through a social media photograph of seashells arranged to display the numbers “86 47.”
The number “86” can mean to get rid of someone, while “47” may refer to Trump as the 47th president. Comey has characterized the cases against him as vindictive prosecutions driven by Trump’s personal animosity.
Those allegations of political retaliation remain disputed, and the cases against James Comey are separate from his daughter’s employment lawsuit.
What Happens Next?
Maurene Comey was hired as a partner at the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in February.
The judge’s order provides a legal remedy tied to her former government employment, including the possibility of back pay and retirement eligibility. It also sends a broader message about the limits of presidential power over certain federal officials.
For the Comey family, the decision marks a significant legal victory in a conflict with Trump that has stretched across both of his presidencies.
