A U.S. attorney’s office in Albany will defend the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought by fired prosecutor Maurene Comey, after her former office in Manhattan recused itself from the case.
Maurene Comey is suing the Justice Department, alleging that her sudden firing in July was illegal and “politically motivated” given her father James Comey’s longstanding criticism of President Trump, who fired the older Comey as FBI director in 2017.
On Thursday, a lawyer from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Northern District of New York informed a federal judge she would represent the Justice Department in the lawsuit, according to a court document — marking the first formal appearance by an attorney for the government since the case was filed in September.
The lawyer, Karen Folster Lesperance, explained in a letter that the Northern District — located in Albany — agreed to take on the case last month because of the Manhattan-based Southern District’s recusal. She asked for an extension of next week’s deadline to respond to the case, which she said Maurene Comey’s attorneys had agreed to.
“While we are working diligently to familiarize ourselves with this matter and prepare the government’s response, additional time is needed to draft an anticipated motion to dismiss and consult with Department officials as necessary,” Lesperance wrote..
She also said most members of her office’s civil division were furloughed due to the government shutdown and didn’t return to the office until Thursday.
The letter doesn’t specify why the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York recused itself. But Maurene Comey had served as a prosecutor in that office for years, working on the high-profile prosecutions of Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Her father also led the office in the early 2000s.
Maurene Comey was let go in July. She said in a note to colleagues obtained by CBS News that she was “summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination.”
Two months later, she sued the government over the termination, calling it illegal and arguing she was unconstitutionally punished because her father has clashed with Mr. Trump for years. She asked a federal judge to declare her firing unlawful and order the Justice Department to let her return to her job with back pay.
Separately, her father, James Comey, was criminally charged in September for allegedly lying to Congress. His lawyers have pushed for the charges to be dropped, calling them vindictive and driven by Mr. Trump’s “personal animus.”
Now, Maurene Comey’s lawyers will need to face off against civil attorneys in the Northern District of New York, an office led by acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone.
Sarcone — a Trump appointee — previously served as the office’s interim U.S. attorney, a role that is limited to 120 days. When that time limit ran out, federal judges in the district declined to extend his term, and the Justice Department made him acting U.S. attorney — a controversial move that the Trump administration has attempted in several other offices, drawing legal challenges in some cases.
CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department, Sarcone, Lesperance and Maurene Comey’s attorney for comment. A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
