A federal judge on Monday determined that the Department of Justice's dismissal of federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful. Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ordered that Comey be retroactively reinstated to her position as an assistant United States attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, had been involved in the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislane Maxwell. She was fired in July 2025. In the ruling, Furman stated that Comey's removal was not authorized by any statute and instead violated the Civil Service Reform Act, or CSRA.
The judge acknowledged that the Attorney General is legally authorized to remove an assistant United States attorney. However, Furman wrote that this authority is limited by law to specific manners and reasons under the CSRA. "And Comey's removal indisputably violated the CSRA," Furman concluded.