Manhattan Judge Says Trump Administration Violated Due Process in Ousting Maurene Comey
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A federal judge concluded that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey in July 2025, finding that the move trampled separation-of-powers norms and basic administrative law protections.
A Manhattan federal judge ruled on Monday that the Justice Department unlawfully and politically dismissed Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor, in July 2025. In a 55-page opinion, Judge Jesse M. Furman said the termination violated the separation of powers, federal administrative law, and Comey’s due-process rights.
Comey, who had been serving as a trial lawyer in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, was working on major, high-profile prosecutions involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs at the time of her dismissal.
"There was no possible reason for my firing besides my father’s role as former FBI director or my perceived political affiliation and beliefs," Comey said.
The ruling is a major legal rebuke to the administration’s personnel practices inside the Justice Department, underscoring concerns about retaliation, abuse of power and the erosion of rule-of-law safeguards.