An Obama-appointed federal judge handed the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) a loss Monday morning, ruling that its firing of former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey – who just happens to be the daughter of former FBI Director and Trump nemesis James Comey – was unlawful and ordering the administration to retroactively reinstate her with back pay.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that the DOJ and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi had violated federal civil service protections when it abruptly fired Comey from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York back in July of 2025.
Maurene Comey had spent nearly a decade serving as an assistant U.S. attorney and worked on several high-profile cases, including those of Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
JUST IN: Maurene Comey's firing by DOJ was illegal and she must be orders retroactively reinstated w back pay, a judge rules. "To accept Defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system" https://t.co/LNAUuVSuji https://t.co/ltmCD1uS2m
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 26, 2026
After her firing, Comey sued the DOJ and alleged she had been targeted because she is the daughter of James Comey or because of her perceived political beliefs. The DOJ, in turn, argued that because federal prosecutors exercise executive authority, the president or the attorney general has the broad power to remove that person from their job.
Furman wasn't buying it, writing, “The Court concludes the Defendants are wrong,” and calling the government's argument that Congress cannot restrict the removal of federal prosecutors one that “flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.”
He continued, “Indeed, to accept Defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.”
Furman ordered Comey be retroactively reinstated from the date of her firing, July 16, 2025, through December 20, 2025, with back pay.
Comey will not be returning to her old job because she signed on earlier this year with a law firm in New York. She didn't leave that old job silently, either, shooting off a message to her colleagues warning that “fear is the tool of a tyrant” and adding, “If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain.”
The DOJ did not immediately comment on Monday's ruling.