Judge Rules Firing of Prosecutor Maurene Comey Was Unlawful

Judge Rules Firing of Prosecutor Maurene Comey Was Unlawful

A decade-long career ended by one memo

On October 26, 2026, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, had served as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, since 2015. She handled some of the country's highest-profile criminal cases, including those against Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sean "Diddy" Combs and former Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. Furman noted she consistently received "the highest accolades from supervisors and peers alike" before being dismissed on July 16, 2025.

The department claims at-will removal power

In court papers, the Justice Department argued that prosecutors like Comey wield a high degree of executive authority when they represent the government in criminal cases, and are therefore subject to removal without cause by the president or the attorney general. The department pointed to recent Supreme Court decisions striking down firing protections for independent-agency leaders. After the ruling, a Justice Department spokesperson said the department disagrees with Furman's findings and will appeal in due course.

Judge says government invented sweeping new theory

In a 55-page decision, Furman rejected each of the government's arguments. He wrote that the department had "invented a new and expansive theory of executive power." First, he held, Comey's removal "was not authorized by any statute; to the contrary, it violated the CSRA," the Civil Service Reform Act. The attorney general may remove an assistant U.S. attorney, he wrote, but only in the manner and for the reasons the CSRA allows. Centuries of precedent, he added, affirm Congress's power to limit removal of so-called "inferior officers"; the recent Supreme Court cases concern principal officers and do not unsettle that rule. "To accept defendants' argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation's constitutional system," he wrote.

Career prosecutors face the chill

Furman framed the stakes beyond one person: if a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, "fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain," Comey wrote in a farewell message obtained by Politico. Her lawyers said the victory belongs to Comey, "to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law," adding that the decision reaffirms that "the President is not above the law." The judge found the firing violated the constitutional separation of powers, federal administrative law and Comey's due process rights. Comey had also alleged the firing retaliated against her because her father is a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump, claims brought under separation-of-powers, First Amendment and Fifth Amendment due process theories.

Back pay ordered, appeal next

Furman ordered Comey retroactively reinstated through December 20, 2025, with back pay from the date of her firing, to "make her whole" and protect her retirement benefits. The exact amount has not been determined. Comey will not return to the office: in February she joined the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler as a partner. The Justice Department has confirmed it will appeal, so the next chapter belongs to the appeals court.