NEW YORK — Maurene Comey, the Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor fired by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department — who went further than any of her peers in holding notorious sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted madame Ghislaine Maxwell to account — warned her longtime colleagues Thursday of a dark new era in which “fear is the tool of a tyrant.”

In an email to her former co-workers at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office that a source shared with The New York Daily News, Comey confirmed that she had been fired on Wednesday in a memo sent from main Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., which she said did not outline a reason.

“Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful,” Comey wrote.

But Comey wrote that prosecutors had “entered a new phase where ‘without fear’ may be the challenge.”

“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. 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.”

With Comey’s firing, a decision her email confirmed came from the top, Trump has now overseen the ouster of two prosecutors who were arguably the toughest on Epstein in seeking justice for his victims and the truth of how he for so long got away with rampant abuse.

During his first term, the president sought to oust then-U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, who led the prestigious prosecutor’s office when it brought the bombshell indictment against Epstein in 2019. Berman ultimately left on his terms.

While Trump hasn’t commented on Comey’s firing, speculation has been rife that the move was politically motivated. ABC on Thursday reported that the president had recently vented “about having a Comey work in his administration.”

Trump has for years faced criticism from Comey’s father, former FBI Director James Comey, an Obama appointee whom he fired in 2017 amid an FBI investigation into Trump’s dealings with Russia — a probe Trump has long excoriated as a “hoax” and that his DOJ is reportedly investigating.

The firing, which Politico first reported, also comes as Trump has been on the defensive about the DOJ’s decision not to disclose any more materials concerning Epstein, facing a firestorm of criticism.

A memo released by the department and the FBI last week said further disclosures would be unwarranted, that a systematic review had turned up “no incriminating’ client list,’” and reiterated findings that the well-connected wealth manager died by suicide, which conspiracy theorists have long questioned.

The memo has led to uproar among many of Trump’s supporters after his Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino had stoked conspiracy theories and hyped up a supposed treasure trove of information in the government’s possession. Bondi, in February, claimed the so-called “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

Comey, a highly respected veteran prosecutor, recently tried the sex trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, which resulted in a mixed verdict that saw him convicted of prostitution offenses and acquitted on the most serious counts.

Comey was on the trial team that secured Epstein’s indictment on conspiracy and sex trafficking charges in July 2019. A decade before, the multimillionaire financier had evaded meaningful accountability when former South Florida U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who would go on to become Trump’s Labor secretary, offered him a sweetheart deal that notoriously allowed him to plead to low-level state prostitution charges in exchange for a 13-month stint in a county jail, in which he was permitted to leave for work.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, according to multiple federal and state government agencies, denying victims of the deep-pocketed financier’s sex trafficking ring a second chance at justice.

The following summer, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office filed an indictment against Maxwell, which Comey took the lead on. Jurors at Maxwell’s trial heard from four women, one of whom has since died of an overdose, about being horrifically abused by Epstein and Maxwell starting when they were as young as 14.

In a searing rebuttal days before the British socialite was convicted for procuring victims for Epstein’s abuse in December 2021, Comey spoke to the duo’s reasons for targeting teens from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“In her eyes, they were just trash, beneath her. Those girls would never stand up to a power couple like Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Comey said.

“And if they ever did, who would believe them? Who would believe Jane or Kate or Carolyn or Annie over Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, who rubbed shoulders with presidents and celebrities and business leaders?”

Comey is the latest veteran prosecutor to be ousted at the Southern District of New York since Trump’s second return to power. Danielle Sassoon, whom he appointed to lead the office in an interim capacity after his inauguration, quit weeks later rather than obey an order from the Justice Department to drop the public corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which she said stemmed from a quid pro quo intended to secure Adams’ cooperation with Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The prosecutors handling Adams’ later-dismissed case resigned or were fired.

Comey could not be reached for comment on Thursday. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

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