Justice Department Fires Epstein Prosecutor Maurene Comey, Citing Only Article II

On July 16, 2025, the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York who had been a lead prosecutor on the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases and more recently on the Sean Combs prosecution. She is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. The memo came from Main Justice, gave no reason, and cited Article II of the Constitution as its authority. She later said that when she asked interim U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton why, he told her: "All I can say is it came from Washington." In a note to colleagues she wrote that "fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought."

The firing came nine days after the department's memo closing out the Epstein files and eight days before the deputy attorney general flew to Florida to interview Maxwell. Invoking Article II to remove a career line prosecutor, rather than any performance or conduct finding, sets the president's removal power against the civil-service protections Congress enacted for such positions.

The department declined to comment. Comey sued in September 2025, alleging she was fired because of her father's identity or her perceived political beliefs, in violation of the Civil Service Reform Act and the First Amendment.