Judge orders $120,000 back pay for prosecutor fired by Trump administration

A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to pay $120,000 in back wages to former prosecutor Maurene Comey.

Judge Jesse Furman issued the ruling on Monday, stating that the government acted beyond its legal limits when it dismissed Comey and other junior federal employees without providing a specific reason.

The decision rejects the administration's claim that the president holds absolute power to fire any employee in the executive branch. Furman argued that accepting that view would disrupt the balance of power established by the US Constitution.

Furman wrote that the defendants created a new and expansive theory of executive power to remove employees who previously held protections against removal.

Comey served as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan from 2015 until her dismissal on July 16, 2025. During that time, she prosecuted high-profile cases against Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Sean Combs.

Her legal team argued that her termination was driven by personal animosity toward her father, former FBI Director James Comey. James Comey was fired by Trump during his first term in 2017 and has remained a vocal critic of the president since.

The court granted Comey back pay from her firing date through December 2026. It also ordered retroactive reinstatement for that period, meaning she is considered to have held the job legally for those months.

The ruling is a legal setback for the administration, which has worked to reduce the size of the federal government and remove staff it views as misaligned with its priorities. Critics have accused Trump of using the justice system to target political opponents.

In a social media post on September 20, 2025, Trump urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute James Comey. Trump wrote, "There is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so." He added that justice must be served immediately.

The Department of Justice charged James Comey with lying to Congress shortly after that post. A judge dismissed that case in November after finding the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.

In April, Comey faced a second set of charges related to an image of seashells arranged to form the numbers 86 47. The administration argued this was a threat referencing Trump, the 47th president. Comey called the case an example of political persecution.

The Trump administration said it disagrees with Monday's decision and plans to appeal in due course.