Furman: DOJ Must Reinstate Maurene Comey and Pay $40,000 Back Wages

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ordered the Justice Department to reinstate Maurene Comey, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, after finding her 2025 termination unlawful. The court ruling came on Monday and includes an order for back pay covering the period from her dismissal through December 20, 2025.

The department fired Comey in July 2025 after she served nearly 10 years in the Southern District of New York. She was removed from her position at the direction of then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Comey’s attorneys estimated her lost wages at approximately $40,000 for the time she was out of work before starting a new job in December 2025.

Furman determined that the administration’s decision to remove Comey violated the Constitution’s separation of powers and her Fifth Amendment due process rights. He rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the Attorney General could fire career prosecutors at will without cause. The judge noted that Congress set specific limits on removal power, limits the government admitted were violated in this instance.

“Congress granted the Attorney General power to remove Comey,” Furman wrote in the opinion. “Congress imposed limits on that power, limits that, even Defendants concede, were violated in Comey’s case.” The judge stated that the administration’s interpretation of executive authority contradicts nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.

Comey had worked on high-profile cases in New York, including the prosecutions of Sean “Diddy” Combs, former Senator Bob Menendez, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. Her lawsuit, filed in September 2025, alleged that the administration provided no legitimate explanation for her firing. The complaint suggested the dismissal resulted from President Donald Trump’s long-standing dispute with her father, former FBI Director James Comey.

Comey stated that her supervisor told her the firing instruction “came from Washington.” Her legal team, including Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali, and Margaret Donovan, issued a joint statement praising the ruling. They described the decision as a reaffirmation of checks and balances, noting that the President is not above the law.

The Justice Department spokesperson said the agency disagrees with the decision and will appeal in due course. The ruling lands as the administration continues to litigate a separate federal criminal case against James Comey. That case, based on a photo of seashells, has been delayed until at least early 2027 while a judge weighs a motion to dismiss.

Furman’s opinion addresses a pattern of career federal prosecutor and FBI employee removals under the Trump administration. These firings have often targeted individuals involved in previous investigations of the President or the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The judge wrote that the administration invented a new theory of executive power to remove employees who long held protections from dismissal.

The decision clarifies the legal boundaries for removing career prosecutors in the Executive Branch. Furman noted that the ruling should serve a useful purpose in settling the legal issues involved in similar disputes. The Justice Department must now comply with the reinstatement order or prepare for appellate review of the constitutional questions raised by the case.