Federal court mandates Justice Department reinstate fired prosecutor Maurene Comey

Maurene Comey, the former Assistant U.S. Attorney who worked on high-profile cases in New York, will return to her federal post with back pay under a court order issued Monday. The ruling forces the Justice Department to reverse its July 2025 decision to remove her from the Southern District of New York. Comey had served the department for nearly a decade before her abrupt dismissal.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman determined that the firing breached the separation of powers and the Fifth Amendment. He found that the department deprived Comey of her statutory due process rights. The judge rejected the administration's claim that career prosecutors can be dismissed at will without cause.

The order grants Comey back pay from the date of her termination through December 20, 2025. That date marks when she began a new position. The Justice Department stated it disagrees with the decision and intends to appeal. Its spokesperson did not provide a specific timeline for filing the appeal.

Comey’s legal team, including Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali, and Margaret Donovan, issued a joint statement praising the ruling. They said the decision reaffirms the system of checks and balances and that the President is not above the law. The attorneys noted the victory belongs to all civil servants fighting for the rule of law.

Furman criticized the department’s legal theory as a sweeping expansion of executive authority. He wrote that the position flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent. The judge observed that the administration used this theory to remove other executive branch employees who historically held protections from removal.

The ruling addresses the specific facts of Comey’s case, where her boss told her the decision came from Washington. The department later told the court that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the removal. Furman found that Bondi did not follow the law when she fired Comey. Congress granted the Attorney General removal power but imposed limits on that authority, limits the defendants conceded were violated.

Comey handled major prosecutions during her tenure, including the cases of Sean Combs, former Senator Bob Menendez, and Jeffrey Epstein. She sued in September 2025, alleging the firing lacked a legitimate explanation. Her complaint argued the termination resulted from President Donald Trump’s longstanding conflict with her father, former FBI Director James Comey.

The administration has fired numerous career prosecutors and FBI employees in recent months. Many of those dismissed worked on investigations into Trump or the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Furman noted this pattern in his opinion, stating the ruling should clarify the legal issues involved in such removals.

The legal dispute extends to Comey’s father, who faces a federal criminal case over a photo of seashells. The administration contends the image constituted a threat against Trump. James Comey’s team argues the case is retributive and that common sense shows the photo was not a true threat. A judge has delayed that case until at least early 2027 to weigh whether to dismiss it.