White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to answer direct questions about the sudden firing of Maurene Comey, the federal prosecutor who handled key cases involving Jeffrey Epstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,” Comey said in the note, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. “Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.”

The Justice Department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked on the cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein,