Epstein, Diddy Prosecutor Maurene Comey Speaks Out After Firing: “Fear Is The Tool of a Tyrant”
Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, has warned former Justice Department colleagues against alarm after her sudden dismissal without cause.
“I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination,” Comey said in a statement first obtained and published by Politico. Comey, a lawyer who took part in the prosecutions in the Southern District of New York of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, his imprisoned accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and the recently-convicted sex trafficker Sean “Diddy” Combs, wrote Department of Justice employees were always told to pursue prosecutions “without fear or favor.”
But, without naming U.S. President Donald Trump, who oversees the DOJ, Comey said her firing without apparent cause represented an abuse of power meant to thwart independent prosecutions.
“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought,” Comey wrote.
The full statement from Maurene Comey follows in full:
Yesterday was unexpectedly my last day in the Office. I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination.Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful.
For the majority of my nearly ten years in SDNY, fear was never really conceivable. We don’t fear bad press; we have the luxury of exceptional security keeping us physically safe; and, so long as we did our work with integrity, we would get to keep serving the public in this office. Our focus was really on acting “without favor.” That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law.
But we have entered a new phase where “without fear” may be the challenge. If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, 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.It has been an honor to fight for those principles by your side.
Maurene
