Oh, this one has to sting. From Politico:
A judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration broke the law when it fired Maurene Comey from her job as a federal prosecutor last year—sharply curbing the administration’s attempt to advance a “sweeping theory” of executive power. Comey’s abrupt termination from her longtime job as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan wasn’t authorized by any statute and violated the Civil Service Reform Act, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, an Obama appointee, wrote.
And along the way, Judge Furman dropped an elbow on the administration's constitutional theory and, by extensions, his accessories in the carefully constructed conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
And he said the Justice Department’s argument that the Constitution's Article II, which outlines the powers of the president, bars Congress from regulating the removal of federal prosecutors “flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.” “[I]n purporting to fire Comey pursuant to Article II and the laws of the United States, Defendants invented a new and expansive theory of executive power,” Furman wrote.
The decision goes out of its way to ridicule the rationale behind the way the administration fired Comey. (Her father, James, the famous seashell threatener and Lord of But Her Emails, is on the president's Naughty list.)
In his decision, Furman didn’t reach a conclusion about the reasons for her termination. But he did reject any rationale for it put forth by the Justice Department. It “borders on frivolous,” Furman wrote, to suggest that Comey could have been fired by the attorney general despite civil service protections using the argument that the firing would have “constituted an implicit determination that her removal was for ‘such cause as will promote the efficiency of the service.’”
“Here, Defendants could not meet that standard even if they tried,” Furman wrote, “as it is undisputed that Comey’s performance as an AUSA was outstanding.” And the judge rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which widened the president’s power to fire certain agency leaders, also extends to more junior employees like Comey. That decision, he wrote, didn’t address that class of employees and “explicitly declined to “determine the fate of officials not before [it].’”
Furman also said he will issue a declaration, which Comey requested, saying that the administration violated the separation of powers, including that it invalidly relied on Article II to fire her, violated the Administrative Procedure Act and violated her Fifth Amendment due process and statutory rights.
That seems like a fairly thorough kicking of the ass of former Attorney General Pam Bondi. She probably could feel it all the way into whatever limbo she was consigned when the president decided he didn't need her any more. And another station on the Vengeance Tour is closed for repairs. Suckers and losers all abound these days.
However, the ink was hardly dry on Maurene Comey's big win in federal court when, late Monday afternoon, documents were unsealed regarding a new indictment of her father on charges of sharing classified material. From The Hill:
Comey was charged with two counts on October 5, but a federal judge granted his request to unseal the complaint on Monday. It is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to prosecute one of the president’s perceived foes. Comey is already facing federal charges in North Carolina in connection with a now-deleted social media post of seashells arranged to read “86 47,” which the Justice Department has claimed was a threat to President Trump’s life.
They are going to have to divert the Potomac to wash out the DOJ when these people are done.