Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over her abrupt July firing, court records showed on Monday.
Comey, the eldest daughter of former FBI director and longtime Trump adversary James Comey, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court against the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President that she was not provided any cause for her removal.
“Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey,” Maurene Comey’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comey’s lawsuit could test the administration’s ability to swiftly fire line prosecutors, as the Republican president’s critics warn that he is seeking to politicize the Justice Department.
The Justice Department has been firing prosecutors who have worked on cases involving Trump or his political allies. Trump and his allies say the Justice Department was “weaponized” against conservatives during Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration.
It could also test whether the administration can take action against line prosecutors who are not politically appointed and whose careers with the Justice Department frequently span both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Comey is asking a judge to reinstate her into her former role as a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which has long enjoyed an unusual degree of independence from Justice Department officials in D.C.
