Judge Rules Trump Administration Unlawfully Fired Maurene Comey, Orders Retroactive Reinstatement

The ruling gives Comey back her federal position retroactively after finding that her dismissal was unlawful. The central decision was corroborated by multiple outlets, including Bloomberg Business, PBS NewsHour, CNBC, Forbes Business, NPR and The New Indian Express.

Comey had served as an assistant U.S. attorney for approximately a decade, according to the supplied reporting. She is also the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a relationship emphasized in coverage of the dismissal and the subsequent ruling.

EL PAÍS reports that Comey was fired in July 2025. The same report says that, at the time of her dismissal, she was associated with cases involving Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell; the supplied material does not establish the precise nature or extent of that work.

PBS NewsHour identifies the judge as Jesse M. Furman and reports that he found the firing violated separation-of-powers principles, the Administrative Procedure Act, Fifth Amendment due-process rights and statutory rights. Those legal findings are attributed to the PBS account and are not independently detailed in the other supplied reports.

The reinstatement is not limited to a prospective return to government service. CNBC and PBS NewsHour report that the order restored Comey retroactively to her assistant U.S. attorney position. PBS NewsHour further reports that the judge granted back pay from the date of her firing through December 20.

The documented outcome is therefore both a judicial finding against the dismissal and a remedy intended to restore Comey’s employment status. The available material establishes the ruling, the retroactive reinstatement and the reported back-pay award, but does not identify the specific court beyond the judge named by PBS NewsHour or provide a Justice Department response after the decision.