Judge rules the Justice Department unlawfully fired prosecutor Maurene Comey

NEW YORK (Oct. 27) — A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Monday that the Justice Department broke the law when it fired Maurene Comey, a longtime federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, in July 2025.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that the firing violated the Civil Service Reform Act and the constitutional separation of powers, according to his written opinion. ABC News reported that he also found violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and of Comey's due process rights. Furman ordered her retroactively reinstated with back pay from her July 16, 2025, termination through Dec. 20, 2025, when she took a private-sector job, CNBC and AP reported.

Comey served nearly 10 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, the opinion said. CNBC reported that she worked on the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean "Diddy" Combs. She was dismissed by an email that cited Article II of the Constitution, and her lawsuit alleged she was fired because of her father or her perceived political views, according to the court's opinion.

The government had argued that the attorney general may remove federal prosecutors at will and that limits set by Congress intrude on the president's Article II powers. Furman rejected that, writing that the attorney general is "limited by law, namely the CSRA, to do so only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons," as quoted by ABC News. He called the administration's position a "sweeping and unprecedented theory of executive authority," ABC reported.

"The Department disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course," a Justice Department spokesperson told ABC News.