Judge gives Maurene Comey green light to sue DOJ over firing
"Maurene Comey was, by all accounts, an exemplary Assistant United States Attorney," the ruling begins.
Just like her father, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey beat the Trump Justice Department in court on Tuesday, obtaining a federal judge’s permission to advance her lawsuit over her unexplained firing last July.
“Maurene Comey was, by all accounts, an exemplary Assistant United States Attorney,” U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman wrote in the first sentence of his 27-page opinion and order. “In her nearly ten years working at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, she was assigned some of the country’s highest profile cases, and she consistently received the highest accolades from supervisors and peers alike. But Comey is also the daughter of James B. Comey, the former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and long-time target of President Donald J. Trump’s ire. And in the spring of 2025, prominent supporters of President Trump began to call for her ouster based on that connection.”
The day after being assigned another high-profile case, Maurene Comey received an email notifying her of her termination, listing the reason only as the “Article II” power that rests in the executive branch.
The Justice Department sought to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that Maurene Comey couldn’t file a federal lawsuit without first bringing her claims before the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB), an executive branch entity that Trump purged last year.
Furman found that because the Trump Justice Department invoked Article II power in firing Comey, the legal challenge wasn’t subject to the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978, which created the MSPB.
“The CSRA indisputably channels many, if not most, challenges to personnel actions brought by federal employees or former federal employees to the MSPB and, thereafter, to the Federal Circuit,” the ruling states. “But, for the reasons discussed above, the Court concludes that Comey’s case does not fall within the purview of the CSRA’s scheme because she was fired pursuant to Article II of the Constitution, not pursuant to the CSRA itself.”
Comey’s attorney Ellen Blain, a partner at the law firm Clarick Gueron Reisbaum LLP, told All Rise News that her legal team is “thrilled.”
“The court held that Maurene Comey has the right to fight her lawless, unconstitutional termination in federal court, where such fundamental questions about the constitutional separation of powers belong,” Blain said in an email. “No president can ignore the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and federal law and fire a career federal employee based solely on her last name. We look forward to continuing to vindicate Ms. Comey’s constitutional rights and protect our civil service.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Judge Furman scheduled an initial pretrial conference on May 28.
Read the ruling in full here.
More great news! I am so proud of our lower federal courts. With one notable exception in southern Florida, they are holding fast!
NEED HELP! … So, does this all get back to Trump trying to sneak an end around of the CSRA (in his firing of Comey)?
I’m learning (slowly) as I’m going thanks to Adam.
FYI STUFF FOR LAY FOLK LIKE ME … “The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) reorganized the U.S. federal personnel system to improve efficiency and protect employees, replacing the Civil Service Commission with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Signed by President Jimmy Carter, it established merit system principles, created the Senior Executive Service (SES), and introduced performance-based pay, aiming to enhance accountability and curb mismanagement.”