Maurene Comey, the lead federal prosecutor at Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial, is suing the Trump administration over her “unlawful and unconstitutional” firing in July.

Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James B. Comey, says she was terminated shortly after the Diddy verdict as political payback because her a father is one of President Donald Trump’s most famous foes.

“The politically motivated termination of Ms. Comey … upends bedrock principles of our democracy and justice system,” her lawyers write. “Assistant United States Attorneys like Ms. Comey must do their jobs without fearing or favoring any political party or perspective.”

Comey, who worked at the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2015, rose to prominence as one of the lead prosecutors in the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a top accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, eventually securing a guilty verdict and a 20-year prison sentence.

In December, she joined the team preparing to go to trial against Combs, who faced charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and prostitution over allegations that he “abused, threatened and coerced women” into partaking in drug-fueled sex parties.

At Diddy’s blockbuster trial in May, Comey often took center stage as the lead prosecutor on the case, questioning witnesses during the two-month courtroom showdown. But the results in that case were more mixed: Jurors largely acquitted Combs, convicting him only on lesser prostitution charges. He’ll face sentencing in October on those counts.

Weeks after the Diddy verdict dropped, Comey was terminated by the Department of Justice without explanation. In a leaked memo, she said she had been fired without cause and urged her former colleagues to show “righteous indignation at abuses 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,” she wrote at the time, according to the Associated Press. “Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.”

In her lawsuit on Monday, Comey made those vague allegations more explicit: That she had been fired illegally because of her father, who drew Trump’s ire during his first administration and has become a persistent critic since Trump fired him in 2017.

“Ms. Comey’s termination was designed to retaliate against her based on her familial relation as the daughter of James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both,” she says. “No other plausible explanation exists for her termination—and certainly none was provided.”

Comey says she “consistently received ‘Outstanding’ reviews and glowing feedback from her superiors.” She also says the move cannot be over her handling of the high-profile Epstein and Combs cases – since she was the only prosecutor fired from those teams.

Instead, her lawyers say she was fired for politics. They cited social media statements from conservative activist Laura Loomer, including one after news broke of Comey’s firing: “This comes 2 months after my pressure campaign on Pam Blondi [sic] to fire Comey’s daughter and Comey’s son in law from the DOJ,” Loomer wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The lawsuit sheds more light on the exact lead-up to Comey’s termination, including that she was fired via email at 4:57 p.m. on July 16 – a move that left her supervisors “visibly shocked and upset by the news.” When she immediately met with Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, she says he offered little additional explanation.

“Ms. Comey asked the basis for the termination,” her lawyers write. “U.S. Attorney Clayton responded, in sum and substance: ‘All I can say is it came from Washington. I can’t tell you anything else’.”

In technical terms, the lawsuit accuses the government of violating Comey’s constitutional rights to free speech and due process, of breaching the constitutional separation of powers, and of violating civil service protections for federal employees.

Spokespersons for both the Justice Department and Clayton did not immediately return requests for comment.