Judge orders DOJ to restore Maurene Comey with back pay through Dec. 20

Maurene Comey will return to her position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, a federal judge ordered on Monday. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that the Justice Department terminated her unlawfully in July 2025. The court ruled the department must pay her back wages from the date of her firing through December 20, 2025, when she started a new job.

The decision reverses a move by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. According to a court filing, Bondi directed the removal after Comey served nearly 10 years in the role. Comey worked on high-profile cases, including the prosecutions of Sean Combs, Sen. Bob Menendez, and Jeffrey Epstein. She stated that her supervisor told her the decision to fire her came from Washington.

Comey filed her lawsuit in September 2025. She alleged the administration provided no legitimate explanation for her termination. She argued the firing was motivated by President Donald Trump’s long-standing conflict with her father, James Comey, the former FBI Director who was fired in 2017.

Judge Furman rejected the administration’s argument that career prosecutors can be fired at will without cause. He found that Congress imposed specific limits on the Attorney General’s power to remove employees. The judge noted that the defendants conceded these limits were violated in Comey’s case. He wrote that the administration’s position flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.

The ruling highlights a pattern of firings among career federal prosecutors and FBI employees. Many of those removed worked on investigations involving the Trump administration or the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Furman observed that the department has used this new theory of executive power to remove other employees who previously held removal protections.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency disagrees with the decision and will appeal in due course. The department had argued in court that Congress lacked the authority to limit the president’s power to remove career staff. The judge described that stance as a sweeping and unprecedented theory of executive authority.

Comey’s attorneys, Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali, and Margaret Donovan, issued a joint statement after the ruling. They said the decision reaffirms the system of checks and balances. They added that the victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to civil servants, and to those fighting for the rule of law.

A separate federal criminal case against James Comey is also pending. The government alleges a photo of seashells he posted constituted a threat against Trump. That case has been delayed until at least early 2027 while a judge weighs whether to dismiss it.