James Comey’s lawyers filed a James Comey motion to dismiss late Tuesday, asking a court to throw out the case charging him with threatening President Donald Trump over a social media post. The filings attack the prosecution itself, alleging misconduct, vindictive and selective prosecution, and unlawful surveillance by the Secret Service.
Late Tuesday filings
Lawyers for Comey asked for dismissal and for transcripts of grand jury proceedings, saying the record should show how the indictment was secured. They also said federal officials involved in the prosecution misled judges, submitted false statements, and withheld key facts during the investigation.
In one filing, they wrote: “Ample objective evidence — much of which comes directly from government officials’ own public statements and admissions — establishes that the President’s animus toward Mr. Comey led to this vindictive and selective prosecution.” They also said evidence from discovery supports “at least a substantial preliminary showing” that two search warrant affidavits contained false statements and material omissions.
Comey’s Instagram post
The case began after Comey was charged in April with threatening Trump through a photo he posted on The Instagram a year earlier. The post showed seashells he said he found on the beach in North Carolina arranged as 86 47, and he deleted it shortly after posting it.
The Justice Department said the photo was a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey said he did not know anyone took the numbers as a call to violence, while his lawyers said 86 has long meant to get rid of or eject and has appeared on thousands of items sold online and at protests.
Warrant affidavits and transcripts
The defense filings go beyond the post itself and focus on how investigators built the case. Lawyers for Comey said the FBI searched an internal database for any sign of an association between Comey and 86 and found inconclusive results, then said an FBI agent reviewed the file in the case against John Gambino and found no references to the term.
Investigators also interviewed Salvatore Gravano, who said he did not recall discussing 86 with Comey or hearing it tied to the trial. The defense said the warrant applications distorted statements from a person who knew Comey but had been estranged from him for years, and that those defects vitiate any conceivable showing of probable cause.
The immediate issue now is whether the court accepts the defense claim that the indictment rests on tainted warrant filings and a flawed grand jury process. If the judge does not, the case moves forward with the post, the surveillance allegations, and the dispute over what 86 47 meant when Comey put it online.
