Maurene Comey Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Alleged Tax Data Leak

Maurene Comey, an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service and daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, has initiated a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration's Treasury Department and the IRS. She alleges that 'politically motivated officials' unlawfully disclosed her confidential tax information to a reporter in 2017, a move she contends was designed to discredit her father.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S.

District Court in Washington, highlights a period of intense political scrutiny and animosity between then-President Donald Trump and James Comey, who was abruptly fired as FBI director by Trump in May 2017. Maurene Comey's legal action suggests a direct link between the political climate and the alleged breach of her personal financial privacy.

According to the complaint, the confidential tax data was leaked to a reporter from ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization.

The resulting article, published in 2017, revealed that an individual named Maurene Comey had represented former Trump administration officials Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in 'substantial transactions.' Specifically, the article noted that a person with her name was listed as the trustee for a company that purchased a New York apartment from Ivanka Trump.

Maurene Comey's lawsuit directly identifies her as the individual referenced in the ProPublica report.

She clarifies her role at the IRS as a mid-level manager performing 'routine administrative duties,' and states that she was not privy to the full financial details of her clients. She asserts that the disclosure of her information was an attempt to 'smear' her father by creating a misleading impression of her professional activities and connections to the Trump family.

The legal action emphasizes the violation of federal law, specifically 26 U.S.C.

Section 6103, which strictly protects taxpayer information from unauthorized disclosure by government employees. Comey is seeking unspecified damages, legal fees, and 'other relief' for what she describes as an egregious breach of privacy and a politically motivated attack.

This case underscores the critical importance of government agencies upholding the confidentiality of sensitive personal data, especially in politically charged environments.

It also raises questions about accountability for unauthorized disclosures and the potential weaponization of private information in political disputes. ProPublica has confirmed that the details outlined in Comey's lawsuit align with the information they reported in 2017, further validating the core allegations of the case.