A United States judge has ruled that former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was illegally fired by the administration of President Donald Trump. US District Judge Jesse Furman said on Monday that the Trump administration had overstepped the boundaries of executive authority when it fired so-called “inferior officers” without cause. He rejected the administration’s position that the president had the power to undertake such firings, regardless of the protections implemented by Congress.
He also dismissed the idea that federal prosecutors like Comey are an extension of the president’s “conclusive and preclusive” powers. Critics have also accused Trump of seeking retribution against perceived enemies. Comey is the daughter of former government official James Comey, who led the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2013 to 2017.
He was fired during Trump’s first term and has since become one of the Republican leader’s most visible critics. Maurene Comey’s legal team had argued that her position was terminated because of Trump’s antipathy towards her father. In Monday’s decision, Furman granted her request for back pay from the date of her firing on July 16, 2025, through December.
He also said she is entitled to “retroactive reinstatement” for that time period. Maurene Comey had served as an assistant US attorney for the Department of Justice since 2015, based in Manhattan. She had brought cases against such high-profile figures as convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
In her lawsuit, Comey alleged that her firing had violated federal laws prohibiting the termination of civil servants for political reasons. She also pointed to the separation of powers under the US Constitution, which allows Congress to pass regulations governing federal employees, so long as they do not interfere with the president’s authority. The Department of Justice, under Trump, has countered that the president has wide latitude to fire federal employees without cause.
In response to Monday’s ruling, the administration has said it “disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course”. Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has sought to reduce the size of the federal government and remove prosecutors and investigators involved in cases he disagrees with. He has also pushed the Justice Department to prosecute several of his critics, including James Comey.
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