'Fear is the tool of a tyrant', fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey tells colleagues

WASHINGTON — Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey who as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan worked on cases against Sean ''Diddy'' Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, said in a note to colleagues that ''fear is the tool of a tyrant'' and that her firing without reason should fuel ''a fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power.''

''If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,'' Comey said in the note, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. ''Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought."

''Instead of fear,'' she added, ''let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.''

Until her firing Wednesday, Comey had been a veteran lawyer in the Southern District of New York, long considered the most elite of the Justice Department's prosecution offices. Her cases included the sex trafficking prosecution of Epstein, who killed himself behind bars in 2019 as he was awaiting trial, and the recent case against Combs, which ended earlier this month with a mixed verdict.

Her termination represented the latest Justice Department effort to fire lawyers without explanation, a trend that has raised alarm over a disregard for civil service protections designed to remove attorneys for political reasons. The department has also fired a number of prosecutors who worked on cases that have provoked Donald Trump's ire, including some who handled U.S. Capitol riot cases and lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of the Republican president.

She was long seen as a potential target given her father's fraught relationship over the last decade with Trump. The Justice Department recently appeared to acknowledge the existence of an investigation into James Comey, though the basis for that inquiry is unclear.

Asked about the firing Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, ''This was a decision made by the Department of Justice."

Maurene Comey had most recently been among the prosecutors in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs. The hip-hop mogul was acquitted of the main charges but convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses that may result in a prison sentence of just a few years, an outcome seen by some as a rare defeat for prosecutions.

But she was successful in numerous other prosecutions, most notably helping secure the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges for helping financier Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. In that case, she delivered a rebuttal argument during closings, as she did in the Combs case.

Her firing comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi faces intense criticism from some members of Trump's base for the Justice Department's decision not to release any more evidence in the government's possession from Epstein's sex trafficking investigation. Some right-wing internet personalities, like Laura Loomer, who have been critical of Bondi's handling of the Epstein files, had been calling for Maurene Comey's firing.

James Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been appointed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and serving before that as a senior Justice Department official in Republican President George W. Bush's administration.

But his relationship with Trump was strained from the start. The FBI director resisted a request by Trump at a private dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president — an overture that so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.

Trump soon after fired Comey amid an investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. That inquiry, later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, would ultimately find that while Russia interfered with the 2016 election and the Trump team welcomed the help, there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal collaboration.

Trump's fury at the older Comey continued long after firing him from the bureau, blaming him for a ''hoax'' and ''witch hunt'' that shadowed much of his first term.

Comey disclosed contemporaneous memos of his conversations with Trump to a friend so that their content could be revealed to the media. The following year, Comey published a book calling Trump ''ego driven'' and likening him to a mafia don. Trump, for his part, has accused Comey and other officials of treason.

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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.