The United States Department of Justice has reportedly fired federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey who prosecuted Sean 'Diddy' Combs and had a role in the trials against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, four sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday (July 16).

The reason for Comey's firing wasn't determined, however, one source said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York cited Article II of the Constitution, which states, "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." The firing was initially reported by Politico on Wednesday.

Comey served as the federal prosecutor in the sex trafficking trial against Combs, which found the disgraced music mogul guilty of two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution, but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. Comey also played a role in the prosecution of Epstein, as well as the prosecution and conviction of Maxwell.

James Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump during his first administration in 2017 and later leaked documents of his meetings with the president, recently faced backlash after sharing a photo of what was described as a "shell formation" that formed the numbers "8647" in a since-deleted post. The photo was condemned by Trump administration officials, Republican lawmakers and other allies to the president as "eighty-six" can informally mean "to get rid of" and 47 represents Trump's second of two non-consecutive presidential terms.

Trump and his administration are dealing with backlash over their handling of the Epstein files, according to a new poll released by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday (July 16). The survey showed that 63% of voters disapprove of the way the Trump administration has handled the Epstein files, while 17% approved and 20% didn't offer an opinion. Republicans were reportedly split with 40% approving the administration's handling of the Epstein files, 36% disapproving and 24% refraining from giving an opinion, according to the poll.

Democrats and independents were both overwhelmingly against the administration's actions with an 83% and 71% disapproval rate, respectively. Trump, who had been photographed alongside Epstein in the past, claimed that he never visited the financier's notorious private island where numerous underage girls and young women were sexually abused, but claimed "a lot of people did."

Michael Berry