Comey’s Daughter Sues DOJ Over Firing as Federal Prosecutor (1)

Maurene Comey, a longtime Manhattan federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, sued the Justice Department and the White House over her abrupt firing in July.

In a complaint filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, Maurene Comey said there was no legitimate reason for her termination in light of an “exemplary” record that included prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. She claims that her firing violated the US Constitution and civil service protections.

“Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both,” she alleges.

Maurene Comey

Photographer: Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo

The suit presents the latest challenge to President Donald Trump’s claim of authority to summarily fire federal employees who’ve historically been protected under civil service laws. The Supreme Court has allowed many of these firings to proceed but has not yet ruled on their legality.

The White House referred comment to the Justice Department, which declined to comment on Maurene Comey’s suit. The US Office of Personnel Management, which she also sued, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Comey is seeking an order declaring her firing illegal, reinstatement to her job and backpay. She noted that she worked as a prosecutor for nearly a decade, during which she secured more than 200 convictions. She claims she regularly was rated “outstanding” in annual reviews and earned three promotions, including to co-chief of the violent and organized crime unit and the public corruption unit in the Manhattan US attorney’s office.

Trump fired James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2017 over the agency’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The investigation, which Trump has long labeled a “hoax,” and Comey’s role in it have continued to animate the president and his supporters. Maurene Comey noted that the president has regularly called her father a “liar” and said he should be “in jail,” criticizing him on social media as recently as August.

Comey noted in her suit that right-wing influencer Laura Loomer called for her firing following a social media post by her father that the Trump administration claimed was threatening. In the post, James Comey showed a picture of seashells arranged to show the numbers “8647,” which the president and his supporters interpreted as a call to harm him. Comey deleted the post, saying he didn’t know that some people associate the “86” with violence.

The Manhattan US attorney’s office handles many high-profile criminal cases, including most of those involving the financial industry.

In addition to Maurene Comey’s firing, the office was the subject of controversy over the Trump administration’s orders to drop a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The decision triggered resignations in the Manhattan office and in Washington, as well as a judge’s order sharply criticizing the deal.

The case is Comey v. US Department of Justice, 25-cv-07625, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with detail from suit, background.)

--With assistance from Chris Dolmetsch, Chris Strohm, Miles J. Herszenhorn and Justin Sink.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Anthony Lin at alin364@bloomberg.net

Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou

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