Back in July, when President Donald Trump was just embarking on his desperate, unsuccessful attempt to make all things Jeffrey Epstein go away, the Department of Justice fired Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director and current Lindsey Halligan Tormenter James Comey.
Comey sued the administration in September for her abrupt firing, but it doesn’t seem to know what to do about it—or who is going to handle it.
Firing Comey at that time was likely a two-fer: a way to punish her dad and a way to get rid of the person who prosecuted Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Indeed, Maxwell got her sweet transfer to a lower-security prison just a couple of weeks later, after she helpfully met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to assure him that, of course, Trump was a stand-up guy who definitely never did anything concerning.
In her lawsuit, Comey alleges that the administration provided no explanation for her firing and that she had been an exemplary employee who prosecuted not just the Maxwell case but other high-profile cases, including that of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
She alleges that she was fired because of her father, though it also seems like she was a victim of the peculiar sway that right-wing activist Laura Loomer holds over the Trump administration, which seems to hire and fire based on Loomer’s whims.
But the problem is that no one at the DOJ wants to represent the government in Comey’s suit. Comey worked in the Manhattan office of the Southern District of New York, so everyone there said no. Additionally, one of Comey’s lawyers used to be the acting deputy chief of the civil division in the Manhattan office, so double no. Brooklyn also said no, as did the Federal Programs Branch, which often handles high-profile cases.
If Trump hadn’t illegally removed Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board, Comey could have gone through the complaint process there, but that board now has no quorum.
The DOJ has thus far solved this problem by not responding to the lawsuit at all. The judge in the case had to issue an odd little order asking the DOJ to please share it with whoever ends up handling the case.
Good luck with that.
Overall, the DOJ is down almost 5,500 career employees since Trump took office. And while not all of those are attorneys, those who are will not be replaced. No, not in a “we’re reducing headcount by not filling vacancies,” sort of way, but in a “no one wants to work there” sort of way.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro literally went on Fox News and told viewers to email her if they wanted a job. That will no doubt do the trick.
The DOJ used to be a destination for people from top law schools, but the Trump administration torpedoed that by revoking job offers for the Attorney General’s Honors Program, telling the bright young people who would normally consider moving up the ranks to pound sand.
It also doesn’t help that there’s now a hiring requirement for applicants to explain what their favorite Trump executive order or policy is and how they will help enforce it.
Is it possible to just have Halligan pick up some quick employment litigation skills? She’s always down for whatever.
