(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former federal prosecutor Maureen Comey declared Monday that neither President Donald Trump nor the DOJ had “absolute authority” to fire her.
Comey, the daughter of disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, made the puzzling declaration in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over her ousting from the DOJ.
Comey was fired from her taxpayer-funded job at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on July 16.
“Neither the President nor the Department of Justice have unlimited authority to remove Assistant United States Attorneys,” Comey alleged through her attorney.
She claimed the administration gave her little explanation for her firing and simply said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton told her the order came from Washington.
She had held her federal job since 2015, the year her father led the FBI during the Obama administration.
Comey’s firing came just days after she led the botched prosecution of musician Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was charged with sex trafficking and other offenses, but was ultimately acquitted by a Manhattan jury.
She was also tied to the prosecution of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell.
In June 2024, she filed a declaration to keep the FBI’s records on Epstein secret, on the grounds that his former associate Maxwell could be granted a new trial soon.
James Comey’s daughter filed a declaration to keep the FBI’s records on Jeffrey Epstein secret, on the grounds that Ghislaine Maxwell could be granted a new trial soon — among other reasons
The judge sided with Comey and the FBI this week, allowing the records to stay secret. pic.twitter.com/DJNH22FU9h
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) June 27, 2024