Judge orders reinstatement after Maurene Comey’s firing

A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired former prosecutor Maurene Comey, ordering her retroactive reinstatement and back pay through December 20, 2025, when she had taken a private-sector job. In an opinion issued Monday, October 26, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found that Comey’s July 2025 dismissal violated federal civil-service protections and constitutional limits on executive power. He rejected the government’s argument that prosecutors could be removed at will because they exercise presidential authority, concluding that Congress may establish employment protections for career prosecutors. Furman also found violations of separation-of-powers principles, the Fifth Amendment’s due-process protections and the Administrative Procedure Act. His order requires reinstatement retroactively, but does not require Comey to return to the Justice Department. The back-pay period ends December 20, 2025, the date reports say she had accepted a position in private practice. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, worked for about a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. Her cases included prosecutions...