Furman finds due process violation, calls for Comey back pay, possible return

DOJ says it would appeal; First Amendment claim remains unresolved

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman’s nonfinal order calls for former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey to receive back pay dating to her July 2025 dismissal and, if she chooses, to return as a prosecutor to the Southern District of New York. Furman found that the dismissal violated Maurene Comey’s constitutional right to due process, but he has not ruled on her separate First Amendment claim that she was fired for politically protected speech. The Justice Department said it disagreed with the decision and would appeal in due course.

In the Monday ruling, Furman wrote that the Justice Department “invented a new and expansive theory of executive power” in dismissing Maurene Comey and violated her constitutional right to due process. He wrote, “To accept Defendants’ argument would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.”

The court’s order is not final. Furman did not yet rule on Maurene Comey’s First Amendment argument that she was fired for politically protected speech, and he plans to hear further briefings on that claim.

Maurene Comey served as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan for around a decade, working on high-profile cases against defendants like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The Justice Department under President Trump fired her in July 2025 despite her consistently receiving accolades from the department for her work.

Comey sued the Justice Department and others, arguing that her dismissal was unlawful and unconstitutional. Her lawsuit alleged that she was fired because her father, former FBI Director James Comey, is a prominent critic of President Trump. The case was also described in NPR’s accompanying report as a challenge to an “unlawful and retaliatory” firing.

Separately, a grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey for a second time. The Justice Department has twice indicted James Comey; the first case was dismissed, while the second prosecution remains pending. The pending case accuses him of threatening the president in a photo of seashells posted on social media.

Several federal prosecutors and former FBI agents have sued the Justice Department under the Trump administration over their dismissals, alleging that they were fired for political reasons tied to their work.

Comey’s lawyers praised the ruling and said it reaffirms that the president must comply with the law as part of the Constitution’s checks and balances. Her attorneys said in a statement, “This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law.”

NPR’s Nate Perez reported the ruling with assistance from Carrie Johnson.