Maurene Comey, federal prosecutor in Epstein case, fired from US attorney’s office
CNN
By Kara Scannell and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, has been fired from her job in the Southern District of New York, according to people familiar with the situation.
Comey was a prosecutor in the case against accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and more recently against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The reason for her firing was not immediately clear, but a person familiar with the situation said being a Comey is untenable in this administration given her father James Comey is “constantly going after the administration.”
The former FBI chief, a Donald Trump critic, is currently under investigation for possible false statements to Congress. He was separately questioned in May by the US Secret Service after he posted a photo on social media showing seashells on a beach that spelled out “86 47,” which he has denied was a call for violence against the president.
Maurene Comey’s dismissal comes as Trump faces growing pressure to release more information on Epstein, the disgraced financier. The Justice Department last week released a memo that there was no Epstein “client list,” and the Trump administration announced that it didn’t plan to release any more documents in the investigation.
Epstein is a convicted sex offender whose criminal case has long captured significant public attention. In 2019, while he was awaiting trial in a federal criminal case, Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital, and his death was ruled a suicide.
Maurene Comey was a lead prosecutor on the investigation and prosecution of Epstein and his former girlfriend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted and is serving a 20-year sentence. She has appealed.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump said in a post on social media the controversy around Epstein is “bullsh*t” and said that his supporters who care about it are “weaklings.” The president also attacked the credibility of the federal investigation into Epstein on Tuesday, claiming that the files “were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by Biden (administration).”
Many of the president’s supporters hoped that releasing additional information on the case would implicate other high-profile figures, or undercut the notion that Epstein killed himself.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York also saw a significant leadership shakeup earlier this year when then-acting US Attorney Danielle Sassoon quit her post instead of dropping the federal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
A spokesperson for SDNY declined to comment on Comey’s firing. CNN has reached out to the White House and DOJ for comment.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Donald Judd, Evan Perez and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this report.
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