Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked on the cases against Sean "Diddy" Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. There was no specific reason given for her firing, according to one of the people. They spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Maurene Comey was a veteran lawyer in the Southern District of New York, long considered the most elite of the Justice Department's prosecution offices. Her cases included the sex trafficking prosecution of Epstein, who killed himself behind bars in 2019 as he was awaiting trial, and the recent case against Combs, which ended earlier this month with a mixed verdict. She didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday. It's the latest move by the Justice Department to fire lawyers without explanation, which has raised alarm over a disregard for civil service protections designed to prevent terminations for political reasons. The Justice Department has also fired a number of prosecutors who worked on cases that have provoked President Donald Trump's ire, including some who handled U.S. Capitol riot cases and lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of Trump. Maurene Comey was long seen as a potential target given her father's fraught relationship over the last decade with the Republican president. The Justice Department recently appeared to acknowledge the existence of an investigation into James Comey, though the basis for that inquiry is unclear. Most recently, she was the lead prosecutor among six female prosecutors in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs. The failure to convict the hip-hop mogul of the main charges, while gaining a conviction on prostitution-related charges that will likely result in a prison sentence of just a few years, was viewed by some fellow lawyers as a rare defeat by prosecutors. But she was successful in numerous other prosecutions, most notably the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges for helping financier Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. In that case, she delivered a rebuttal argument during closings, as she did in the Combs case. Her firing comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi faces intense criticism from some members of Trump's base for the Justice Department's decision not to release any more evidence in the government's possession from Epstein's sex trafficking investigation. Some right-wing internet personalities, like Laura Loomer, who have been critical of Bondi's handling of the Epstein files had been calling for Maurene Comey's firing. James Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been appointed by then-President Barack Obama and serving before that as a senior Justice Department official in President George W. Bush's administration. But his relationship with Trump was strained from the start, and the FBI director resisted a request by Trump at a private dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president — an overture that so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum. Trump soon after fired Comey amid an investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. That inquiry, later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, would ultimately find that while Russia interfered with the 2016 election and the Trump team welcomed the help, there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal collaboration. Trump's fury at the older Comey continued long after firing him from the bureau, blaming him for a "hoax" and "witch hunt" that shadowed much of his first term. Comey disclosed contemporaneous memos of his conversations with Trump to a friend so that their content could be revealed to the media, and the following year he published a book calling Trump "ego driven" and likening him to a mafia don. Trump, for his part, has accused Comey and other officials of treason. Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.