A federal judge ruled Monday that former Assistant United States Attorney Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, was “unlawfully terminated” and ordered that she be reinstated.

The Justice Department’s abrupt firing of Comey in July 2025 violated the Constitution’s separation of powers and her Fifth Amendment due process and statutory rights, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found. The Trump administration’s assertion that it can fire career prosecutors at will would “unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system,” the judge wrote.

He granted Comey back pay effective from the date of her termination through Dec. 20, 2025, when she began a new job.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department said DOJ “disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course.”

In a joint statement, Comey’s attorneys Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali and Margaret Donovan said that “this decision reaffirms our bedrock system of checks and balances: the President is not above the law.”

They added that the “hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law.”

Read the full report on NBC News.