A federal judge ruled Monday that the Justice Department's firing of New York prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful. He ordered that she be retroactively reinstated as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York 1.
Comey is the daughter of former FBI director James Comey. She worked on prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and was fired in July 2025 1.
What the judge found
Judge Jesse Furman of U.S. District Court in Manhattan wrote that the removal had no legal basis. He said it broke the Civil Service Reform Act, the federal law that sets how and why government employees can be removed 1.
First, Comey's removal was not authorized by any statute; to the contrary, it violated the CSRA [Civil Service Reform Act]
Furman did not say the attorney general lacks the power to fire prosecutors. He wrote that the power has limits. The attorney general may remove an assistant U.S. attorney only "in a particular manner and only for certain reasons," and that was not done here 1.
From Channel GOPBrown: Husted took $116,000 from Epstein co-conspiratorSherrod Brown · 1.9K plays · captioned, with the source named
And Comey's removal indisputably violated the CSRA.
How the case got here
Comey sued over the firing. She says she was removed solely or substantially because of her father, or because of her perceived political affiliation or beliefs. Her lawyers called the termination "lawless, unconstitutional" 2.
In April 2026, Furman refused to send the case to an administrative panel. He noted that the only reason given for her firing was Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which vests "executive power" in the president 2.
In that April ruling, Furman also wrote that Comey "was, by all accounts, an exemplary Assistant United States Attorney" 2. The Justice Department did not immediately comment at the time 2.
What happens next
The wire report did not say whether the Justice Department will appeal. It also did not say when Comey could return to work. The department did not respond in the coverage available at publication time, and we will update this report if it does.
That matters beyond one prosecutor. Furman's ruling is that federal law limits how and why the attorney general can remove prosecutors, even when the Justice Department relies on presidential authority. The firing of someone who worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases was found unlawful under a civil service statute 1.
Civil service rules exist so that career government workers are not removed for political reasons. This ruling is an early test of whether courts will enforce them against the Trump administration. An appeal could keep the question alive past Election Day on Nov. 3.
The Record
- Maurene Comey, who worked on Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions, was fired from the Southern District of New York in July 2025 1.
- Judge Furman kept Comey's lawsuit in federal court instead of sending it to an administrative panel 2.
- Furman ruled the firing unlawful under the Civil Service Reform Act and ordered Comey retroactively reinstated 1.
Sources
- CNBC, “Trump DOJ unlawfully fired Epstein prosecutor Maurene Comey, judge rules” (2026-10-26). cnbc.com/2026/10/26/maurene-comey-firing-unlawful-trump.html
- KSAT, “Judge rules that fired prosecutor Maurene Comey's lawsuit belongs in federal court” (2026-04-28). ksat.com/news/politics/2026/04/28/judge-rules-that-fired-pro
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
