Maurene Comey, who prosecuted Diddy and Epstein, says she was fired by Trump ‘without reason’
The US President has taken action against a top prosecutor who is also linked to one of his biggest foes, but she said there was no reason for her dismissal.
Maurene Comey, the daughter of ex-FBI Director James Comey, said she was fired from the powerful Manhattan US Attorney’s Office “without reason” — as she warned that the Justice Department‘s decision to axe her will only sow alarm and that “fear is the tool of a tyrant.”
“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,” Comey wrote in an email to colleagues, which was obtained by The Post.
Ms Comey — a veteran lawyer in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and, most recently, Sean “Diddy” Combs – went on to suggest that her firing without apparent reason was an abuse of power.
“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen,” Ms Comey wrote.
“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought,” she continued.
“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 comes as the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, the reason behind her sacking not yet known.
President Trump has a troubled past with her father James Comey who he fired during his first term as president in 2017.
Meanwhile, tech billionaire Elon Musk mocked Mr Trump’s claim that files related to the federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein are a “hoax”.
“Wow, amazing that Epstein ‘killed himself’ and Ghislaine is in federal prison for a hoax,” Musk wrote in response to video of Mr Trump’s attempt to deflect questions about Epstein, and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Not a single Epstein client has been prosecuted. Not a single one,” Mr Musk said.
Mr Musk has alleged the “real reason” the Epstein files hadn’t been released was because they named Mr Trump.
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‘WEAKLINGS’: TRUMP LASHES OUT OVER EPSTEIN ‘HOAX’
It came as Mr Trump blasted his former supporters as “weaklings” and “stupid” for buying into the “bulls**t” of what he described as the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax”.
In a furious tirade, Mr Trump hit back at critics from within his own MAGA fan base who have been critical of his administration’s decision to backtrack on a promise to release files relating to the convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi had been teasing further disclosures in the bombshell case for months before suddenly announcing last week “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”.
In a post to Truth Social, Mr Trump said the division was the work of “scams and hoaxes” by the Democrats.
“Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax, and my past supporters have bought into this “bulls**t,” hook, line, and sinker,” he said.
“They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the lunatic left for eight long years.
“I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the fake news and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”
“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
‘MADE UP’: TRUMP BRUSHES OFF CALLS TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES
President Trump has brushed off a question about whether he’s named in investigative files on the Jeffrey Epstein case — saying the documents were “made up” but that “credible” claims could be released in the future.
“No, no,” Mr Trump replied dismissively on the White House lawn when a reporter asked if Attorney General Pam Bondi told him that he’s named.
“(Bondi) has given us just a very quick briefing and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they’ve seen,” Mr Trump said.
“I would say these files were made up by (former FBI Director James) Comey and (former President Barack) Obama, made up by the Biden (administration) and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
Mr Trump added: “But she’s handled it very well. And it’s going to be up to her, whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
Ms Bondi, asked about Mr Trump’s remarks, referred reporters to a two-page memo she issued last week declaring that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted” in the case.
The Attorney General provoked a bipartisan outcry last week due to the fact that she had repeatedly touted plans for greater transparency, including at one point indicating that a client list was on her desk.
The attorney general also explained away the missing minute of prison CCTV footage, which does not directly show Epstein’s cell, stating a minute is missing from each day’s tape due to antiquated technology.
Ms Bondi told a reporter that she would have to “get back to” them on whether Epstein worked for a US or foreign intelligence agency.
Ms Bondi’s decision against further disclosures after months of media appearances in which she teased looming bombshells sparked outrage from prominent Trump supporters as well as internal tension with FBI leadership.
US PRESIDENT UNVEILS INVESTMENTS TO POWER AI BOOM
Mr Trump went to Pennsylvania to announce US$92 billion ($142 million) in energy and infrastructure deals intended to meet big tech’s soaring demand for electricity to fuel the AI boom.
Mr Trump made the announcement at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, with much of the talk about beating China in the global AI race.
“Today’s commitments are ensuring that the future is going to be designed, built and made right here in Pennsylvania and right here in Pittsburgh, and I have to say, right here in the United States of America,” Mr Trump said at the event.
The tech world has fully embraced generative AI as the next wave of technology, but fears are growing that its massive electricity needs cannot be met by current infrastructure, particularly in the United States.
Generative AI requires enormous computing power, mainly to run the energy-hungry processors from Nvidia, the California-based company that has become the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.
Officials expect that by 2028, tech companies will need as much as five gigawatts of power for AI — enough electricity to power roughly five million homes.
Top executives from Palantir, Anthropic, Exxon and Chevron attended the event. The funding will cover new data centres, power generation, grid infrastructure, AI training, and apprenticeship programs.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘GREAT’ TRADE DEAL
Donald Trump has hammered out a trade deal with another Asia Pacific country as Australian negotiations continue to drag.
Mr Trump announced he had reached a tariff deal directly with Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto.
“I spoke to their really great president,” he said.
“We have full access to Indonesia. We will pay no tariffs. So they are giving us access into Indonesia, which we’ve never had.
“And the other part is they are going to pay 19%, and we are going to pay nothing.”
It comes one week after the US President sent a letter to Mr Prabowo advising his country would be subject to tariffs of 32 per cent.
“Great deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia,” Mr Trump announced on Tuesday local time.
“I dealt directly with their highly respected President.”
It comes as Australia continues to push for a trade deal with the United States which has imposed 10 per cent baseline levies on all exports, and higher duties on products including steel and aluminium.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese planned to make Australia’s case directly to the President in June at a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, however Mr Trump cancelled the meeting amid growing conflict in the Middle East.
Mr Albanese instead met with the President’s economic team including US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and chief economic adviser Kevin Hassett.
Mr Albanese said he put forward Australia’s case on tariffs and expected discussions to continue but officials are still yet to reach an agreement.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 18 of America’s most significant trading partners had been prioritised for negotiations but it was unclear whether Australia was included in that group.
SECRET SERVICE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT TRUMP, BUT FAILED
The Secret Service was woefully underprepared when a gunman opened fire on Donald Trump in an attempted assassination of the US President last July, bombshell findings have revealed.
The agency’s “inexcusable negligence” before, during and after the attempt on Mr Trump’s life in was described as a “cascade of preventable failures”, according to a pair of reports released by Senate investigators.
Michael Thomas Crooks, 20, climbed on top of a nearby building and took eight shots at Mr Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
One attendee was killed, two others wounded and a bullet grazed Mr Trump’s ear before a Secret Service counter sniper opened fire on Crooks and killed him.
The reports found that The Secret Service denied multiple requests by Mr Trump’s security team for additional security resources.
The threat against Mr Tump’s life was also kept under wraps, senator investigators claimed.
Ten days before the July 13, 2024 campaign rally, Secret Service officials were briefed on classified intelligence related to a threat on Mr Trump’s life.
However, due to the agency’s “siloed practice for sharing” sensitive information, few involved in the then-ex-president’s security operation were even aware of it.
The Secret Service faced a barrage of costly technological failures in Butler that also hampered agents’ ability to communicate and surveil the fairgrounds.
The agency’s anti drone technology malfunctioned ahead of the rally, and was being repaired for “hours” by an agent who “lacked the training, knowledge and support to quickly fix the issue.”
During that time, Crooks “flew a drone — undetected — over the event site hours before the rally,” according to the report.
The agency also did not have a formal policy in place to effectively communicate changes to the security plans in Butler, senator investigators claimed.
EUROPE’S BOLD $128BN MOVE IN TRUMP TARIFF WAR
Europe is putting forward a new list of US goods worth 72 billion euros ($A128 billion) that could be targeted by EU levies if tariff talks with Washington fail.
The EU’s trade chief, commissioner Maros Sefcovic, said the proposal, “accounting for some 72 billion euros’ worth of US imports”, was shared with EU trade ministers during a meeting in Brussels.
The move came after US President Donald Trump threw months of negotiations with the EU into disarray by threatening to impose tariffs of 30 per cent on EU goods if there was no deal by August 1.
Mr Sefcovic said the tariff would wreck transatlantic trade which is why European Union ministers had agreed to continue negotiations with the United States in a bid to secure an agreement before that deadline.
“There was a total unified position among the ministers that we should be ready to respond if needed,” Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said.
The EU had already prepared a separate list of US imports worth 21 billion euros that it was ready to target over earlier tariffs from Mr Trump on steel and aluminium.
The EU announced on Sunday that it would further hold off putting that list into force as it searched for a deal with the US by August.
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Originally published as Maurene Comey, who prosecuted Diddy and Epstein, says she was fired by Trump ‘without reason’