Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor who brought criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has sued US President Donald Trump’s administration over her abrupt July firing, court records showed on Monday.
Advertisement
Comey, the eldest daughter of former FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) director and long-time Trump adversary James Comey, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court against the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President that she was not provided any cause for her removal.
“Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey,” Maurene Comey’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comey’s lawsuit could test the administration’s ability to swiftly fire line prosecutors, as the Republican president’s critics warn that he is seeking to politicise the Justice Department.
Advertisement
The Justice Department has been firing prosecutors who have worked on cases involving Trump or his political allies. Trump and his allies say the Justice Department was “weaponised” against conservatives during Democratic former US president Joe Biden’s administration.