Attorneys representing former FBI director James Comey filed a motion on Tuesday seeking dismissal of criminal charges filed against him in April, contending the prosecution amounts to vindictive and selective prosecution motivated by President Trump’s animosity toward their client.
Comey was indicted after posting a photograph on Instagram showing seashells arranged to form the number “8647” while vacationing with his wife in eastern North Carolina in May 2025. The Department of Justice alleged the image constituted a threat against the sitting president. Comey’s lawyers argue in their motion that the post constitutes protected speech and does not meet the legal standard of a “true threat.”
According to court filings, law enforcement officials encountered significant obstacles in establishing that Comey would have understood the term “86” as carrying violent connotations. An FBI search of records related to a federal case Comey handled as a prosecutor involving mobster John Gambino yielded no references to the term. A broader search across federal records spanning decades produced inconclusive results. When authorities interviewed former FBI agents experienced in organized crime cases, they could not definitively confirm the term carried violent meaning. Investigators also consulted ChatGPT and Google AI, neither of which returned definitive results regarding violent interpretations of the phrase.
Comey’s legal team alleges that internal Secret Service documents reveal Trump requested regular updates on the investigation as it progressed. The filing contends that Secret Service supervisors discussed tracking Comey’s phone without a warrant via an “exigency” request, though a supervisor documented concerns about the legality of such action. According to the motion, Comey’s phone was ultimately tracked and he and his wife were followed as they drove back to North Carolina.
The case represents the second criminal matter brought against Comey. The Department of Justice previously indicted him on charges of lying to Congress, but those charges were dismissed after a judge ruled the prosecutor had been unlawfully appointed. Trump fired Comey during his first term and has expressed long-standing grievances regarding Comey’s handling of the 2016 Russian interference investigation.
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