UPDATE 3-Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sues Trump administration over firing

Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, sued President Donald Trump's administration on Monday over her abrupt July firing. Comey, the eldest daughter of former FBI director and longtime Trump adversary James Comey, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court against the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President that she was not provided any cause for her removal. "Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey," Maurene Comey's lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. Comey's lawsuit could test the administration's ability to swiftly fire line prosecutors, as the Republican president's critics warn that he is seeking to politicize the Justice Department. The department has been firing prosecutors who have worked on cases involving Trump or his political allies.

Trump fired James Comey during his first term and has attacked the former FBI director for his role in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won. Trump and his allies say the Justice Department was "weaponized" against conservatives during Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration. Line prosecutors like Maurene Comey are not politically appointed, and their careers with the Justice Department frequently span both Republican and Democratic administrations. Comey is asking a judge to reinstate her in her former role as a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, where she worked for 10 years. The office has long enjoyed an unusual degree of independence from Justice Department officials in Washington. 'IT CAME FROM WASHINGTON' In her lawsuit, Comey said she consistently received outstanding reviews from her supervisors, including in an April 25, 2025, performance review signed by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton - Trump's pick for the role. In 2021, she was on the team that secured Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction for helping the late financier Epstein abuse teenage girls. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence, denies wrongdoing. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial. More recently, Comey helped secure the conviction of Combs on charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, though the jury cleared Combs of more serious charges. Combs had pleaded not guilty and is awaiting sentencing. On July 16, just two weeks after the verdict in Combs' two-month trial, Comey said she received an email from the Justice Department's human resources director informing her she had been terminated. The email did not provide a reason for her firing, but cited Article II of the U.S. Constitution which lays out the president's powers, her lawsuit said. Comey said she then asked Clayton why she was fired. "All I can say is it came from Washington," Clayton said, according to Comey's lawsuit. A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment.

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