Judge Rules Firing of Prosecutor Maurene Comey Was Unlawful and Orders Back Pay
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled Monday that the Justice Department's July 2025 firing of former Manhattan prosecutor Maurene Comey broke federal law, ordering back pay for the period before she took a defense lawyer job.
A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration’s firing of former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey in July 2025 was unlawful, and ordered back pay for the period before she took a job as a defense lawyer, according to CNN and Reuters.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that the firing violated the separation of powers clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Service Reform Act, which sets limits on how federal employees can be removed. “Comey’s removal indisputably violated the CSRA,” Furman wrote, using the initials of the act.
What the judge decided
Furman wrote that the attorney general is authorized by law to remove an assistant U.S. attorney, but only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons. The Justice Department had argued that the attorney general exercises the president’s powers and could not be limited by Congress. Furman rejected that argument, writing that it would upend two centuries of Supreme Court decisions and risk a return to the spoils system that Congress has sought to end since the nineteenth century.
Comey served for nearly a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. CNN reported that the Justice Department acknowledged in its arguments that Comey was not fired for cause or because of her performance. In her lawsuit, Comey alleged that she was fired because of who her father was, former FBI Director James Comey, in violation of federal laws barring the firing of civil servants for political reasons and guaranteeing due process in employment disputes.
What remains open
Furman did not rule on Comey’s claim that her firing violated the First Amendment, and asked both sides for further briefings on that point. Reuters reported that Comey had asked the judge to reinstate her retroactively through December 2025 so she could receive back pay and qualify for retirement benefits. Her legal team said in a statement: “This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law.” CNN said it had reached out to the Justice Department for comment, and USA Today said it had reached out to the White House.
Reporting based on coverage by CNN, Reuters, and USA Today.
