Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs prosecutor sues Donald Trump administration
The lead federal prosecutor in Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs’ sex trafficking trial was fired in July. The woman, Maurene Comey, is now suing Donald Trump’s Department of Justice.
Comey led Combs’ highly publicised trial earlier this year, resulting in the rapper being found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Just weeks after the trial, she was dismissed from her role without explanation. She lost her job under Article II of the Constitution, which relates to the president’s powers.
Comey was an assistant attorney in the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. Her father is FBI director James Comey, whom Trump fired over investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The politically motivated termination of M Comey upends bedrock principles of our democracy and justice system,” her lawyers wrote in court documents obtained by Billboard. “Assistant United States Attorneys like Ms Comey must do their jobs without fearing or favouring any political party or perspective.”
Aside from Combs, Comey is known as the lead prosecutor in the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, in which she was sentenced to 20 years.
After losing her job, Comey sent a message out to her former colleagues that claimed she was fired without merit.
“Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favour,” she said in the letter. “Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favour to the powerful.”
She continued, “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.”