The U.S. Department of Justice has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a Manhattan federal prosecutor who worked on cases against sex offenders Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein.
The reason for her dismissal remains unclear after Politico first reported on the event Wednesday.
Maurene Comey, an assistant U.S. attorney in the southern district of New York, most recently led the prosecution of Combs for sex trafficking and prostitution-related charges. The rapper was convicted this month on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of the most serious charge of racketeering conspiracy, as well as two charges of sex trafficking. Maurene Comey had previously prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of Epstein who helped the financier run his child sex trafficking ring. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after she was found guilty of multiple charges involving the sex trafficking of minors.
The prosecutor’s father, James Comey, was the FBI director when President Donald Trump took office in 2017. Trump fired the Obama appointee in May 2017, and the FBI has recently launched a criminal investigation into the former bureau director for potential wrongdoing including alleged false statements to Congress during the Trump-Russia collusion investigation.
National Review has reached out to the Department of Justice and the White House for more information on the firing of Maurene Comey.
Backlash about the handling of the Epstein case has roiled the GOP base in recent weeks after the Department of Justice and the FBI released an unsigned joint memo announcing Epstein committed suicide behind bars in New York City in 2019 while awaiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges and did not have a client list.
“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’” the joint memo read. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously said the Epstein list was “on her desk” for review, and President Donald Trump had promised to make the information public. FBI Director Kash Patel, before assuming his role, had also demanded the Epstein list be released. Bondi has since clarified she was referring to the files on Epstein rather than an incriminating client list.
Meanwhile, the president has lashed out on against those who question the official pronouncement on the case, saying he no longer wants their support. In comments at the White House, he accused Republicans of being duped by Democrats regarding the Epstein files and likened the situation to the Russia collusion investigation.
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” Trump said of Democrats in a Truth Social post. “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
Several Republican lawmakers have joined their Democrat colleagues in calling for full transparency on the case. Republican representatives Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett, Eric Burlison, Jeff Van Drew, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Thomas Massie have cosigned a measure directing the Department of Justice to release all unclassified materials on the sex predator to the public.