Judge Orders DOJ to Reinstate Maurene Comey, Gives Back Pay

A federal judge ruled Monday that Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, was illegally fired from her job. The judge ordered the government to restore her position.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said the Justice Department broke the law when it fired Comey in July 2025. He ruled that the firing violated the Constitution and her legal rights.

Furman warned that the Trump administration’s claim that it can fire career prosecutors whenever it wants could upset the balance of power set out in the U.S. Constitution.

The judge also ordered the government to pay Comey the back pay she was owed from the date she was fired until December 20, 2025, when she started a new job.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the department disagreed with the ruling and planned to appeal.

Comey’s lawyers welcomed the decision. In a joint statement, they said it showed that the U.S. system of checks and balances still mattered and that the president was not above the law.

They also said the victory was important not only for Comey but for government workers and others who support the rule of law.

Comey worked on major criminal cases

Comey spent almost 10 years working as a federal prosecutor. During that time, she took part in several high-profile cases in the Southern District of New York.

These included the criminal case against music star Sean “Diddy” Combs, the prosecution of former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, and cases involving the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Comey filed a lawsuit in September 2025. She argued that the administration had given no valid reason for firing her.

She also said she had been targeted because of President Donald Trump’s long-running conflict with her father, James Comey. Trump fired her father as FBI director in 2017.

Judge says attorney general broke the law

Comey said her supervisor gave her only a brief explanation when she was fired: the decision “came from Washington.”

The Justice Department later told the court that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi had ordered her removal.

Judge Furman ruled that Bondi had failed to follow the law and had denied Comey her legal right to fair treatment.

The judge explained that Congress had given the attorney general the power to remove Comey from her job. However, Congress had also placed legal limits on that power. The judge said those limits were broken in Comey’s case.

The Justice Department argued that Bondi could fire Comey at any time, even without giving a reason. It also claimed that Congress could not place limits on the attorney general’s power to remove prosecutors.

Furman rejected those arguments. He said the government was trying to establish a broad new claim of presidential power that conflicted with nearly 200 years of Supreme Court decisions.

Wider concerns over federal firings

The ruling comes as the Trump administration has removed career federal prosecutors and FBI employees from their jobs.

Some of those affected had worked on earlier investigations involving Trump or on the investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Furman said the government had created a new theory of executive power and used it to remove workers who had long enjoyed legal protections against being fired without proper grounds.

He said his ruling could help explain and settle important legal questions about the limits of the government's power.

Criminal case against James Comey continues

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is still pursuing a criminal case against James Comey, Maurene’s father.

The case concerns a photograph of seashells that the government claims amounted to a threat against Trump.

The case has been delayed until at least early 2027 while a judge considers whether it should be dismissed.

James Comey’s lawyers argue that the case is part of Trump’s campaign to punish his political opponents, rather than a proper use of federal law.

They also say the photograph was not a real threat when its meaning, context and ordinary interpretation are considered.

The legal fight over Maurene Comey’s firing is now set to continue as the Justice Department prepares to appeal the judge’s decision.