Judge rules Maurene Comey's firing unlawful and reinstates her

Left · 2U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled on Monday 26 October 2026 that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, from her post as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. 1 2 Left · 2In a 55-page decision, Furman found the removal violated the separation of powers and federal law, and NBC News reports it also violated Comey's Fifth Amendment due process rights. 1 2 Left · 2The judge granted retroactive reinstatement and backpay from the date of her July 2025 firing through 20 December 2025, when she began a new job. 2 1

Mixed · 2Furman wrote that the attorney general may remove such a prosecutor but is limited by the Civil Service Reform Act to doing so only in a particular manner and for certain reasons, and that Comey's removal "indisputably violated the CSRA". 3 1 Left · 1The Trump administration had argued that Article II of the Constitution gives the president unrestricted removal power and that Congress cannot limit the removal of federal prosecutors; Furman wrote that accepting this would "unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation's constitutional system". 1 Left · 1NBC News reports the judge wrote that Congress imposed limits on the attorney general's removal power that "even Defendants concede, were violated in Comey's case", and that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi did not follow the law. 2

Left · 1Comey, who joined the office in 2015, worked on prosecutions including those of Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sen. Robert Menendez, and said she was fired by memo without a reason. 1 Left · 2She sued in September 2025, alleging she was likely fired because of President Trump's "vendetta" against her father; the Justice Department later said in a filing that Bondi directed the removal and conceded she had "outstanding" performance ratings from 2019 through 2024. 2 1 Left · 1Furman earlier denied the government's motion to dismiss, which argued Comey had to go to the Merit Systems Protection Board, finding the court had jurisdiction. 1

Mixed · 2The Justice Department did not immediately respond to NBC News's request for comment, and Just the News said the administration will likely appeal. 2 3 Left · 1NBC News notes the administration is separately pursuing a criminal case against James Comey over a seashell photo, delayed until at least early 2027. 2