Court loss against familiar foe could bring Trump's Epstein scandal back to life: expert

President Donald Trump's latest court loss could bring his scandalous relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein back to life, according to one expert.

Michael Popok, a lawyer and host of the podcast "The Intersection with Michael Popok," argued during a new episode on Wednesday that the Trump Department of Justice's unsuccessful bid to remove former DOJ prosecutor Maurene Comey's lawsuit from federal court is bad news for the administration.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York ruled that Comey can keep her lawsuit in federal court and said that Trump's DOJ had effectively sealed its own fate when it admitted that her termination relied solely on the Constitution, not the civil service statutes.

"They fired her under the presidential authority under Article II, hoping that this would never see the light of day," Popok said. "I think this new ruling by Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York may unlock Epstein's scandal as well as help get her job back because Judge Furman has just ruled that she gets to keep her case in federal court."

Comey, the daughter of twice-indicted former FBI Director James Comey, was fired by the DOJ last year for reasons that remain unclear. She then sued the DOJ, arguing that her termination was political retribution for her father's investigation into Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Popok also noted that the ruling would affect the Epstein investigation. Comey was responsible for convicting Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a 20-year sentence on sex trafficking charges. Now that Maxwell is angling for a pardon, Popok argued that Trump doesn't want someone like Comey in his ear, reminding him of how untrustworthy she is.

"So, on the surface, it's Maurene Comey allowed to stay in federal court rather than be shuffled off into an administrative law procedure, never to be heard from again," Popok said. "That's the top line. But right below the surface is the connection between her and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein, Trump, and Todd Blanche, now the acting U.S. attorney. And I think this gets blown sky-high as this particular case continues."