Judge rules Trump administration unlawfully fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey

As of 1:59 p.m. ET, Oct. 26, 2026

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Monday that the Justice Department's July 2025 firing of former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was unlawful, finding that her removal violated the constitutional separation of powers and federal civil service law.

U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York granted Comey retroactive reinstatement and back pay from the date of her firing, July 16, 2025, through Dec. 20, 2025, the date when, the court inferred, she accepted the job she holds now. The judge reserved judgment on how much back pay she is owed and on whether she is entitled to costs and attorneys' fees, according to his 55-page opinion and order.

The ruling does not send Comey back to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The relief she requested and the court granted includes revising her personnel files to show that she resigned as of Dec. 20, 2025, rather than being fired on July 16, 2025, along with pension and Thrift Savings Plan contributions and service credit through that date, the opinion says. Comey was hired in February as a partner at the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, Reuters reported.

Comey, the eldest daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, spent nearly a decade at the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, where she brought cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Reuters reported. She was fired by an email from Justice Department officials citing Article II of the Constitution, the opinion says. In her lawsuit, she alleged she was fired because she is James Comey's daughter, because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.

The Justice Department argued that the firing, which it said was directed by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, was lawful, and that limits Congress placed on removing assistant U.S. attorneys unconstitutionally intrude on the president's power under Article II. Furman rejected both arguments. "Comey's removal indisputably violated the CSRA," he wrote, referring to the Civil Service Reform Act. Accepting the government's Article II argument "would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation's constitutional system," he wrote, adding: "This Court, however, is bound to follow the Supreme Court's precedents unless and until the Supreme Court itself overturns them."

Furman also rejected the department's argument that current Attorney General Todd Blanche could ratify the firing after the fact, CNBC reported. The court declared that the department violated the separation of powers, the Administrative Procedure Act and Comey's Fifth Amendment due process and statutory rights. It ruled for the government on one other claim, dismissed four more, and has not yet decided her First Amendment claim, pending further briefing, according to the opinion.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, NBC News reported. GROKsiNEWS.com had not seen a notice of appeal as of this writing.