Maurene Comey sued the administration on Monday, demanding she be restored to her job as a senior federal prosecutor and accusing President Trump and his team of illegally targeting her for retribution because of her famous father, former FBI Director James B. Comey.
Ms. Comey said she was a star at the Justice Department, entrusted with major cases in the Southern District of New York. She said that changed after her father posted — then apologized for — what to some was a threatening message against Mr. Trump.
Two months later, she was booted without a formal explanation, though she says she became the victim of a smear campaign by conservative activists.
“Ms. Comey’s termination was designed to retaliate against her based on her familial relation as the daughter of James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both. No other plausible explanation exists for her termination — and certainly none was provided,” her lawyers argued in their opening brief in the case.
Ms. Comey was fired on July 16, a day after she said she had been assigned to a new major public corruption case.
She cast the firing as the latest in a long-running feud between Mr. Trump and her father, dating back to the 2016 campaign. That’s when Mr. Comey took the unusual step of saying he’d declined to bring criminal charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her use of a secret email server kept in the bathroom of her home, while pursuing a bogus case against Mr. Trump concerning Russian “collusion.”
Mr. Trump went on to fire Mr. Comey in early 2017, igniting the yearslong investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, which exonerated Mr. Trump of the Russian allegations though it suggested the president may have obstructed justice by firing Mr. Comey.
Mr. Comey then wrote a book heavy on complaints about Mr. Trump.
Ms. Comey says things flared up again earlier this year after her father “posted a message on social media that President Trump and others in the Trump Administration claimed to perceive as threatening.”
In the post, which Mr. Comey later deleted, he shared a picture of a seashell formation in the shape of the numbers “86” and “47.” The latter was seen as a reference to Mr. Trump, the 47th president, and 86 is in some circles seen as slang for disposing of something.
Mr. Trump said he took it as a threat.
Ms. Comey said right-wing influencer Laura Loomer then began demanding Ms. Comey be fired as “a national security risk via their proximity to a criminal,” Mr. Comey. After Ms. Comey’s firing, Ms. Loomer claimed credit.
The firing notice came from Francey Hakes, director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
The Washington Times has sought comment from the Justice Department for this story.
Ms. Comey asked a judge to declare her firing unconstitutional and illegal, saying it went beyond Mr. Trump’s powers to fire people.
She also asked to be reinstated with back pay.
In its termination notice, the Justice Department said Ms. Comey could challenge her ouster through the normal process for feds who believe they have been wronged, which would involve the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Ms. Comey said she’s done that, but she said Mr. Trump has crippled the MSPB by firing one of its members and, given the retirement of another, the board is down to a single member. That means it doesn’t have a quorum to act.
