A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor and daughter of ex-FBI Director James Comey, can move forward with her lawsuit claiming the Trump administration dismissed her from her job for political motivations. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected the Justice Department's effort to have the case heard by an executive branch agency that handles federal employee disputes, affirming that the matter belongs in federal court.
In a 27-page opinion, Furman wrote that Comey's case “falls outside the universe” of complaints Congress intended for the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to adjudicate. He noted that Comey was, by all accounts, an exemplary assistant U.S. attorney, highlighting her professional accolades in contrast with President Trump's animosity toward her father.
“She was given one and only one reason for her removal: Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which ‘vest[s]’ the ‘executive Power’ in the President,” Furman wrote, referencing the administration's justification for her July dismissal from the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Maurene Comey filed suit in September, alleging that her firing was driven “solely or substantially” by Trump's long-running feud with her father, James Comey, whom Trump fired as FBI director in 2017. That firing became a central element of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice during the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Since then, James Comey has emerged as a vocal critic of the president.
The Justice Department later brought false statements and obstruction charges against James Comey for his 2020 congressional testimony about FBI leaks, but a judge dismissed those charges due to the unlawful appointment of the special prosecutor. The Trump administration is appealing that decision.
When Maurene Comey was fired, she wrote a farewell letter to colleagues stating that “fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.” She had spent nearly a decade in the U.S. attorney's office, prosecuting high-profile cases including those against Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Furman set a May 28 hearing for an initial pretrial conference and ordered the Trump administration to respond to her claims within two weeks. The case now moves into discovery, where both sides will gather evidence.
This ruling arrives amid broader tensions between the Trump administration and the judiciary over executive power. In a related development, the DOJ recently pressed a judge to lift a blockade on the White House ballroom project after an incident at the Hilton, underscoring the administration's aggressive legal posture.
