Judge rules James Comey’s daughter unlawfully fired as federal prosecutor

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) unlawfully fired and must provide back pay to Maurene Comey, former FBI Director James Comey’s daughter who was terminated as a prosecutor last year.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected the Trump administration’s arguments that it had constitutional authority to fire her .

“Defendants’ argument is contrary to an unbroken line of Supreme Court decisions dating back almost two centuries, and the Supreme Court itself has not formally overruled any of those decisions. That is sufficient, in itself, to reject the argument,” Furman wrote in his 55-page opinion .

Maurene Comey has since taken another job and won’t be returning to the DOJ. But the judge’s ruling retroactively reinstates her, provides her with back pay and restores pension benefits for the four-month period before she took that new role. It also orders an update to her personnel file to reflect that she resigned instead of saying she was fired.

“The Department disagrees with this decision, which obstructs President Trump’s constitutional authority to fire individuals who wield executive power on his behalf. We intend to appeal the decision in due course,” the Justice Department wrote on X .

Comey sued last year after DOJ officials informed her that July she was being removed from her role as a criminal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She says it was because of her perceived political affiliation and her connection to her father, whom Trump fired as FBI director in 2017, which sparked the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to take over the Russia investigation.

James Comey has become a vocal foe of the president in the years since, and the DOJ is prosecuting him for posting last year an image of seashells spelling “86 47,” arguing it was a violent threat against the president.

Furman’s ruling doesn’t address those First Amendment arguments. Instead, the appointee of former President Obama ruled that Maurene Comey’s firing violated restrictions Congress has enacted for terminating assistant U.S. attorneys.

The DOJ has argued such limits are unconstitutional — pointing to the Supreme Court’s recent decision invalidating Congress’s firing protections for independent agency leaders — but the judge said that’s limited to principal officers and does not impact the protections for people like Comey.

“Defendants’ contention that recent Supreme Court decisions have fatally undermined that precedent is not one that this Court, as a lower court, may accept. It is also without merit,” Furman wrote. “Indeed, to accept Defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.”

In a statement, Comey’s lawyers said the decision reaffirms “our bedrock system of checks and balances.” “This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law,” they said.