Judge Rules Trump Administration Unlawfully Fired Maurene Comey
A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired former Manhattan prosecutor Maurene Comey, finding that her dismissal violated civil-service protections.
A federal judge in New York ruled on Monday, October 26, 2026, that the Trump administration unlawfully fired former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that the dismissal violated civil-service rules, according to Reuters and ABC News.
ABC News reported that Furman reinstated Comey. Reuters said she had asked the court for retroactive reinstatement through December 2025 so that she could receive back pay and qualify for retirement benefits. The distinction matters because retroactive reinstatement can affect pay, benefits and credited federal service even when a former employee has taken another job. The ruling is a legal defeat for the Justice Department and a test of the protections available to career prosecutors who are not political appointees.
Comey challenged her July 2025 dismissal
The Justice Department fired Comey in July 2025 after nearly a decade in the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office. Reuters reported that she alleged in her lawsuit that she was dismissed because she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a frequent target of Trump’s criticism. Her complaint said the action violated laws that bar politically motivated removals of civil servants and guarantee federal employees due process in workplace disputes.
That explanation was Comey’s allegation, not an established motive announced by the Justice Department. The department argued in court papers that federal prosecutors exercise substantial executive authority when they represent the United States in criminal cases and therefore may be removed without cause by the president or the attorney general. Furman’s ruling rejected the administration’s position as applied to Comey’s termination.
Ruling tests protections for career prosecutors
The dispute reaches beyond one employee because line prosecutors commonly remain in office across administrations of both parties. Unlike U.S. attorneys and other Senate-confirmed officials, they generally hold career civil-service positions. Reuters described the case as a test of whether the administration could quickly dismiss those prosecutors despite statutory employment protections.
Comey’s work at the Southern District of New York included cases involving Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, and music producer Sean Combs. Mentioning those prosecutions identifies her professional record; the court’s employment ruling did not revisit the verdicts or allegations in those criminal cases.
The ruling comes amid Trump’s long conflict with James Comey
Trump fired James Comey as FBI director in 2017 and has repeatedly attacked him over the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Reuters reported that an earlier federal case accusing the former FBI director of lying to Congress was dismissed after a judge found the U.S. attorney who obtained the charges had not been lawfully appointed. James Comey pleaded not guilty in that case and has also pleaded not guilty to a separate federal charge alleging a threat against Trump.
Maurene Comey joined the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler as a partner in February 2026. Monday’s decision concerns whether her earlier removal from federal service complied with employment law; it does not place her back in an active prosecution or decide any claim against her father. The Justice Department’s next procedural step, including whether it will appeal, was not immediately detailed in the reports reviewed for this article.