Federal Judge Rules Maurene Comey’s DOJ Dismissal Was Unlawful
Qwenews.com – Judge – A federal judge has concluded that the Justice Department acted unlawfully when it dismissed former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey in July 2025, finding that the action violated both constitutional limits and federal civil-service law.
US District Judge Jesse Furman ruled Monday that Comey’s removal from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did not follow the protections established for federal employees. Comey had served as an assistant US attorney in the office for nearly 10 years and worked on prominent prosecutions, including matters involving Jeffrey Epstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The decision is a significant rebuke of the Justice Department’s argument that the attorney general may exercise presidential removal authority without being constrained by Congress in this context. Furman said accepting that position would threaten longstanding safeguards intended to prevent government jobs from becoming political rewards or punishments.
Judge Cites Civil-Service Protections
Comey sued after her dismissal, arguing that she was targeted because she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. The Justice Department did not contend that her work performance or misconduct prompted the firing.
Before she lost her position, Comey had received favorable feedback from supervisors and had repeatedly been assigned to major cases handled by the Manhattan-based federal prosecutor’s office. She is now a defense attorney.
Furman found that the Justice Department’s action ran afoul of the Civil Service Reform Act, the federal law governing how many government employees may be disciplined or removed. He also held that the firing violated constitutional separation-of-powers principles.
“Yes, the Attorney General is authorized by law to remove an AUSA. But the Attorney General (and anyone to whom the Attorney General delegates that authority) is also limited by law, namely the CSRA, to do so only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons. And Comey’s removal indisputably violated the CSRA,” Furman wrote.
An AUSA, or assistant US attorney, is a career prosecutor who represents the federal government in criminal and civil matters. While such prosecutors work within the executive branch, civil-service rules can impose procedural and substantive limits on their removal. Those restrictions are designed to support a professional workforce that is not dependent solely on political favor.
Executive-Power Argument Rejected
The Justice Department had maintained that the attorney general acts with the president’s authority and that Congress could not restrict the way federal employees are dismissed. Furman disagreed, saying the department’s position clashed with roughly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent concerning executive authority and congressional power.
In his ruling, the judge warned that the government’s approach could undermine the merit-based civil-service structure that Congress has sought to build since the 19th century.
“Risk a return to the spoils system that Congress has sought to end since the nineteenth century,” Furman wrote.
The so-called spoils system refers to the historical practice of distributing public jobs based on political loyalty rather than qualifications. Federal civil-service laws were developed in part to reduce that practice and establish clearer protections for career government workers.
Furman ordered that Comey receive back pay through the point at which she began her current work as a defense lawyer. The ruling does not resolve every issue raised in her lawsuit, however.
First Amendment Claim Still Pending
Comey also alleged that her termination violated the First Amendment. Furman did not decide that claim in Monday’s opinion and instructed both sides to submit additional written arguments on the issue.
Her legal team described the ruling as an important result not only for their client but also for career public servants more broadly.
“This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law,” Comey’s attorneys said in a statement. “As the Court correctly held, to accept the government’s argument about unlimited executive power ‘would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.’”
A Justice Department spokesperson said the department disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal.
The case has also drawn attention because of a message Comey sent to former colleagues after her dismissal. In that email, she urged prosecutors not to allow anxiety over her sudden firing to influence their independent judgment.
“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,” she wrote. “Do not let that happen.”
“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.”
The appeal process could determine how broadly the ruling affects the authority of Justice Department leadership over career prosecutors. For now, Furman’s decision reinforces that even high-level executive officials must follow the statutory procedures Congress established when removing protected federal employees.
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