U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled Monday that the Department of Justice unlawfully removed Maurene Comey from her post as an assistant U.S. attorney and must provide back pay and restore pension benefits for the period before she took a new job, according to court documents and reporting.
Judge cites long line of precedent
Furman, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, rejected the Justice Department’s argument that it had broad constitutional authority to dismiss assistant U.S. attorneys. In a 55-page opinion, the judge said the department’s position conflicted with a long line of Supreme Court decisions and the limits Congress has placed on terminating certain federal prosecutors.
“Defendants’ argument is contrary to an unbroken line of Supreme Court decisions dating back almost two centuries, and the Supreme Court itself has not formally overruled any of those decisions. That is sufficient, in itself, to reject the argument,” Furman wrote.
Furman ordered that Comey receive back pay and pension benefits for the roughly four-month period before she accepted other employment, and directed the department to update her personnel file to reflect that she resigned rather than was fired. The judge’s ruling retroactively reinstates her to the Department of Justice for that period, though Comey has since taken another job and will not return to the department.
Background and claims
Maurene Comey, who served about a decade as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, was removed from her role in July 2025. Her lawsuit said the dismissal was motivated by her perceived political affiliation and her connection to her father, former FBI Director James Comey. Prosecutors in Manhattan had praised her work on high-profile matters including prosecutions related to Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, court filings said.
The Justice Department argued in court that statutory limits on terminating assistant U.S. attorneys were unconstitutional, citing recent Supreme Court rulings that curtailed congressional protections for certain independent officials. Furman wrote that the Supreme Court's decisions invalidating some removal protections applied to principal officers and did not extend to the statutory restrictions Congress enacted for assistant U.S. attorneys.
The opinion does not resolve separate First Amendment claims that were raised in the litigation, and it did not address criminal matters involving James Comey. The elder Comey has been indicted twice by the Justice Department; the first case was dismissed, and a second prosecution is pending concerning an image he posted on social media that the department says constituted a violent threat against the president.
Relief ordered and next steps
- Furman ordered retroactive reinstatement for the approximately four-month period in question, with back pay and restored pension benefits.
- The DOJ must update Comey’s personnel file to indicate she resigned rather than was fired.
- Court records and reporting indicate Comey has accepted other employment and will not return to the DOJ.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Comey’s attorneys issued a statement praising the ruling as a reaffirmation of legal protections for civil servants.
