By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 10/27/2026
Category: Criminal Courts / Government Accountability / Prosecutor Accountability / Court Administration
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired career prosecutor Maurene Comey, rejecting the government’s claim that senior executive officials could remove her without the protections Congress gave federal employees.
U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Comey retroactively reinstated from the date of her July 2025 firing through December 20, 2025, when she entered private practice. The ruling entitles her to back pay and allows her to qualify for retirement benefits tied to that period.
Comey spent roughly a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. Her cases included the prosecutions of Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs. Furman wrote that her supervisors and colleagues had repeatedly praised her work.
The Justice Department gave Comey a short termination notice without stating a performance-based reason. Comey sued, alleging that the firing violated federal civil-service law, due-process protections and her First Amendment rights.
The government argued that assistant U.S. attorneys exercise executive power and can be removed without cause by the president or attorney general. Furman rejected that position. He found that Congress can impose statutory limits on the removal of federal officials classified as inferior officers.
The decision addresses more than one prosecutor’s paycheck. It draws a boundary around political control of career prosecutors whose work often spans administrations and whose charging decisions are supposed to rest on evidence and law.
Furman did not decide whether Comey was fired because she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime target of President Donald Trump. He also did not finally resolve her First Amendment claim.
That distinction matters. The court found the termination unlawful under the civil-service protections before it, but it did not make a factual finding about the administration’s motive.
The Justice Department said it disagrees with the ruling and intends to appeal. Reuters reported that an immediate appeal may have to wait because one of Comey’s claims remains unresolved.
The ruling provides a concrete remedy: retroactive reinstatement, back pay and potential retirement benefits. It also leaves an open question about whether the firing violated Comey’s right to protected speech or association.
Comey now works in private practice. Her lawyers called the decision a victory for civil servants and the rule of law.
For New Yorkers, the case reaches the credibility of the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan. A justice system cannot promise independence if career prosecutors can be removed outside the procedures Congress established.
The next phase will determine whether the Justice Department can reverse the ruling and whether the remaining constitutional claim proceeds. Until then, the operative judgment is clear: the government did not have lawful authority to fire Comey in the manner it chose.
Sources
Associated Press, Judge Finds Maurene Comey Was Illegally Fired
Reuters, Trump Administration’s Firing of Prosecutor Maurene Comey Was Unlawful
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