(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Wednesday fired Maurene Comey from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she most recently led the prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs, multiple sources told ABC News.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a call for comment
Comey was a highly regarded assistant U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and multiple gang members before the split verdict earlier this month in the trial of Combs, who was convicted of a prostitution-related charge but acquitted of more serious charges.
Comey was also involved in the office’s case against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Comey is the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, who President Donald Trump fired during his first term in office because he initiated the Russia investigation.
According to sources, Trump privately vented about having a Comey work in his administration.
This marks the latest shake-up for the nation’s most prominent federal prosecutor’s office.
In April, the office’s top prosecutor, Matthew Podolsky, agreed to step aside, clearing the way for Trump to install Jay Clayton, his nominee for interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York,
Podolsky had taken over for Danielle Sassoon, who in February resigned in protest of the Justice Department’s order to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Sassoon had been named interim U.S. attorney by Trump when the president fired Edward Kim, who assumed the role during the change in administrations.
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