A federal judge in New York on Monday ruled against President Donald Trump and the Justice Department over the firing of Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.
Judge Jesse Furman said Comey’s termination violated civil service rules.
“Yes, the Attorney General is authorized by law to remove an AUSA. But the Attorney General (and anyone to whom the Attorney General delegates that authority) is also limited by law, namely the CSRA, to do so only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons,” the judge wrote.
Furman ordered Maurene Comey, who most recently led the prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs, reinstated with back pay.
In addition to calling her termination unlawful, Furman decided Trump and the DOJ violated the separation of powers, the Administrative Procedure Act and Maurene Comey’s due process rights.
“The Department disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course,” a DOJ spokesperson told ABC News.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
ABC News has reached out to Maurene Comey for comment.
Furman’s ruling outlines that Maurene Comey’s reinstatement applies from the date of her termination in July of 2025 until December, when she effectively resigned from her role by accepting a new job in the private sector.
In ordering Maurene Comey’s reinstatement, Furman rejected what he described as the Trump administration’s “sweeping and unprecedented theory of executive authority.”
The Trump administration had argued that not only was Maurene Comey’s firing lawful under federal statute, but that the laws protecting civil servants were also an unconstitutional intrusion into Trump’s authority.
“The question at the heart of this case is whether these limitations on the removal of Assistant United States Attorneys are consistent with Article II and the constitutional separation of powers,” Judge Furman wrote.
Judge rules Trump DOJ ‘unlawfully’ fired Maurene Comey
