The Justice Division on Wednesday fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor who efficiently prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the affiliate of convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. The firing comes as President Donald Trump is underneath hearth from all sides for his dealing with of the Epstein scandal and his administration’s failure to launch info related to the notorious case.
Comey led the courtroom case the place Maxwell was convicted for her position in intercourse trafficking minors alongside Epstein. She labored as his recruiter and transported underaged ladies.
Comey additionally led the latest profitable prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Comes for prostitution-related crimes, although he was acquitted in the identical trial of different alleged crimes. She is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump infamously fired in 2017 for investigating Trump’s alleged ties to Russian election interference.
Conspiracy theorist and anti-Muslim bigot Laura Loomer, a detailed ally of Trump, pushed for Maurene Comey’s dismissal. The firing is yet one more latest occasion of Trump apparently following Loomer’s calls for.
Conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer stands outdoors the courthouse the place the hush-money trial of Donald Trump is underway, in April 2024, in New York.
Trump was a longtime pal of Epstein, and his choice to fireside Comey, alongside along with his administration’s stonewalling on the Epstein concern, has raised new questions on his potential involvement within the deceased intercourse offender’s crimes. Whereas campaigning for workplace, Trump typically invoked the Epstein case as a cudgel towards his Democratic political opponents, and his choice to now cowl up particulars of the case has created a scandal inside his administration.
Trump’s MAGA base has been up in arms over Trump’s mishandling of the Epstein concern, demanding that the knowledge they had been lengthy promised be launched. Trump has lashed out, falsely claiming that the Epstein case was manufactured by Democrats.
“It’s a hoax, I know it’s a hoax,” Trump complained to reporters on Wednesday. Trump has typically claimed that actual issues, corresponding to local weather change and his loss within the 2020 election, are hoaxes or fraudulent.
Trump additionally mentioned that Republicans pushing the difficulty are “stupid” and “foolish.”
Democrats have been on the assault, mocking congressional Republicans for voting towards Democratic-led makes an attempt to pressure the federal government to launch Epstein-related info.
The general public just isn’t with Trump on this concern.
A Reuters/Ipsos ballot launched Thursday confirmed that 69% of People, together with almost two-thirds of Republicans, consider the federal government is hiding Epstein’s alleged consumer listing. Solely 17% of People approve of how Trump has dealt with the scandal.
Firing a prosecutor related to the Epstein case is prone to solely feed the fireplace of the controversy Trump finds himself in.
