Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey and a former federal prosecutor, may proceed with her lawsuit alleging the Justice Department’s decision to fire her last year was politically motivated, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York rejected the government’s argument that the court does not have jurisdiction to consider her lawsuit.
The DOJ had argued that career prosecutors could only challenge their firings through the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent, quasi-judicial agency within the executive branch. But in Tuesday’s opinion, Furman — himself a longstanding former career prosecutor — ruled that because the DOJ fired Comey “pursuant to Article II” of the Constitution, which vests executive power in the president, the court has jurisdiction in the matter rather than the MSPB system.
Neither Maurene Comey nor the DOJ immediately responded to MS NOW’s requests for comment.
Maurene Comey, 37, was abruptly fired from her role as senior trial counsel at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in July 2025. She challenged her termination in federal court, arguing she was improperly removed because of her father, an Obama appointee who was fired as FBI director in 2017 during the first Trump administration.
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James Comey, a vocal Trump critic, was indicted in October on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation. He pleaded not guilty, and the case was later dismissed. The DOJ has indicated it may attempt to prosecute James Comey again.
Maurene Comey’s career as a federal prosecutor was defined by her work on high-profile cases, including the prosecution of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The DOJ subpoenaed James Comey in March as part of a wide-ranging investigation related to his 2017 congressional testimony about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump and his allies have long argued that intelligence officials, including James Comey, overstated Russia’s interference in the election as part of a smear campaign against him.
Lisa Rubin contributed reporting.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.