Federal Judge Rules Trump DOJ Unlawfully Fired Maurene Comey, Orders Her Reinstated With Back Pay and Rejects Article II Claim
Judge Jesse Furman said the Justice Department conceded the firing was not for cause or performance, and that its Article II argument defied nearly two centuries of precedent. DOJ says it will appeal.
A federal judge in New York ruled Monday that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, Fox News reports.
The ruling. Judge Jesse Furman ordered Comey reinstated retroactively and awarded back pay through Dec. 20, 2025, the day she accepted another job. Fox says the Justice Department acknowledged in court filings that the firing was not for cause and not based on her performance.
The argument that lost. DOJ said the attorney general could remove an assistant U.S. attorney under Article II of the Constitution. Furman called that view contrary to "nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent" and warned it would "unsettle the very equilibrium established by this nation's constitutional system." He said Congress limited the firing power through the Civil Service Reform Act, which generally requires cause and procedural protections. Comey got no advance notice and no chance to respond, the judge found.
The background. Comey spent about a decade in the Southern District of New York. Fox notes her work included the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell and the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. She was the second in her family fired under Trump, after her father in 2017.
What happens next. A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department disagrees and will appeal "in due course." Comey's lawyers called the win "hard-earned" for all civil servants and said it shows "the President is not above the law."
Note for readers: Fox's headline labels Furman an "Obama judge," and Fox points out that his brother served in the Obama administration. The legal reasoning above is the judge's, as quoted by Fox. We have not read the opinion.