NEW YORK — One day after being fired by the Justice Department, Maurene Comey told her former colleagues that “fear is the tool of a tyrant,” appearing to take aim at the upper ranks of DOJ and perhaps the president, according to a copy of a message she sent to the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office that was shared with POLITICO.
Referring to the office’s longstanding motto of operating “without fear or favor,” Comey, who is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey and who prosecuted both Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, told her former colleagues in a note Thursday that “[w]e 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,” she wrote. “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.”
Comey didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comey’s firing came amid a public uproar over President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision not to release additional files related to Epstein, the disgraced financier who was charged with running a child sex trafficking ring and killed himself in jail while awaiting trial.
As POLITICO reported Wednesday, Comey disclosed that she wasn’t provided a reason for her termination, news of which she said was “summarily” conveyed to her via a memo from the Justice Department.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also reportedly investigating Comey’s father, who has publicly sparred with Trump for years.
Comey’s defiant letter also comes amid a broader exodus of veteran Justice Department lawyers, some who left on their own and others who were fired for their association with criminal cases related to Trump or the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In her parting message, Comey wrote that during her nearly 10 years at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, her goal was “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.”
“Fear,” she wrote, “was never really conceivable.”
A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on Comey’s message.
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