Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sued the Trump administration on Monday, alleging that her firing this year “without cause, without advance notice, and without an opportunity to contest it” was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, had worked on several high-profile cases, including the prosecutions of Sean "Diddy" Combs, former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The suit alleges that the Trump administration provided "no legitimate explanation" for firing her after almost 10 years of service in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and that it did so because of her father.
“Despite her exemplary performance, Ms. Comey was abruptly fired on July 16, 2025, the day after the U.S. Attorney’s Office had asked her to take the lead on a major public corruption case and just three months after her latest receipt of an ‘Outstanding’ review," the suit says.
"Defendants did not identify any cause or provide Ms. Comey any due process for her removal. She simply received an email with an attachment stating that she was being terminated ‘[p]ursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States.'"
Article II of the Constitution establishes the powers of the president.
According to the suit, then-interim U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton came to see Comey shortly after she learned of her firing. Asked why she was being terminated, Clayton said: “All I can say is it came from Washington. I can’t tell you anything else.”
The suit notes President Donald Trump's repeated criticisms of James Comey for his actions as FBI director in his first term until Trump fired him in 2017. It also notes that two months before Maurene Comey was fired, her father posted to Instagram what some Trump supporters took as a threat to the president's life. (James Comey has denied this, saying he was unaware of any association between what he posted and violence.)
After that post, the suit points out, the far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has some influence with Trump and his administration and has gotten people fired from the federal government, went after Maurene Comey on social media, saying she and her husband should be "FIRED from the DOJ immediately."
Comey's husband, Lucas Issacharoff, "voluntarily resigned" from the Department of Justice in May, according to the lawsuit.
After Comey was ousted, she wrote a letter to colleagues saying: “If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.”
The defendants in the lawsuit include the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of the President, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, among others. The DOJ declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
In the suit, Comey is seeking reinstatement to her position as well as back pay.
