US court rules daughter of Trump critic James Comey was illegally fired

What the report says

A US federal judge has ruled that former assistant US attorney Maurene Comey was illegally dismissed by the Trump administration, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on Reuters. US District Judge Jesse Furman said the government overstepped its authority when it fired her without cause, and he rejected the administration’s argument that the president could remove such federal employees regardless of congressional protections.

Comey had argued in her lawsuit that she was targeted because of her father, former FBI director James Comey, a longtime critic of Donald Trump. The judge agreed to grant her back pay from the date of her firing on July 16, 2025, through December, and said she is entitled to retroactive reinstatement for that period. The ruling is a legal setback for the administration, which has tried to remove federal personnel it views as inconsistent with the president’s priorities.

The case also comes amid broader tensions between Trump and James Comey. Al Jazeera reported that Trump has publicly urged prosecutors to pursue charges against the former FBI chief, and the Justice Department later brought cases against him that were challenged in court. James Comey led the FBI from 2013 to 2017, including during the agency’s Russia investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Maurene Comey had worked in the Manhattan US attorney’s office since 2015 and handled cases involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean “Diddy” Combs.