Maurene Comey, a Manhattan federal prosecutor who worked on the criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, was fired on Wednesday, according to six people with knowledge of the matter.
The reason for Ms. Comey’s firing was not initially clear. Her dismissal immediately raised questions, given her involvement in cases that have roiled the White House in recent days, as well the fact that her father is the former F.B.I. director James Comey, who was fired by President Trump during his first term.
A spokesman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, including about whether it had asked the Justice Department to fire Ms. Comey.
Mr. Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, have been seeking to quell outrage from many of the president’s supporters over their reluctance to release files related to Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking case. The issue has sowed significant dissent and infighting among Mr. Trump’s base.
In recent days, Mr. Trump has claimed without evidence that files related to Mr. Epstein’s crimes were concocted by Mr. Comey, as well as by former Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama.
Ms. Comey was a prosecutor in the criminal case against Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who hanged himself in jail in 2019 before he could go to trial. And she was on the team that prosecuted Ms. Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s onetime girlfriend, who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021.
It stands to reason that Ms. Comey, as one of the lead prosecutors in Mr. Epstein’s case, would have asked that certain information remain private, as is the standard in sensitive cases involving victims of sexual violence. The Justice Department could move to unseal those files, if it chose.
But the firing raises the possibility that Ms. Comey is being set up as a fall person as the administration seeks to move past the scandal.
Ms. Comey was given a letter informing her of the termination, three of the people with knowledge of the matter said. Two said that the letter said that Ms. Comey was being fired under Article II of the Constitution, which describes the powers granted to the president.
In 2017, the gossip site Radar Online sued the F.B.I. in the Southern District under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the release of certain documents related to the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein.
In a declaration submitted in that case in January 2024, Ms. Comey wrote that releasing the documents could damage the government’s case in a potential retrial of Ms. Maxwell, including by making witnesses less likely to testify, and could even cause harm to witnesses.
“The release of those materials would thus identify witnesses and subject them to possible embarrassment and harassment,” Ms. Comey wrote, noting that several witnesses at Ms. Maxwell’s trial had testified under pseudonyms or used just their first names. Later that year, the judge overseeing that case sided with the F.B.I.
Ms. Comey told several close colleagues about the firing in an impromptu meeting with the co-chief of the public corruption section of the U.S. attorney’s office, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter.
Ms. Comey was also a prosecutor on the trial of Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul known as Diddy, who was acquitted of the most serious charges against him earlier this month.
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area’s federal and state courts.
William K. Rashbaum is a Times reporter covering municipal and political corruption, the courts and broader law enforcement topics in New York.
Michael S. Schmidt is an investigative reporter for The Times covering Washington. His work focuses on tracking and explaining high-profile federal investigations.
Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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