Comey seeks dismissal of Trump threat charges

Former FBI Director James Comey has asked a federal judge to throw out charges accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump, alleging in new court filings that prosecutors pursued the case to punish him for his criticism of the president and that investigators illegally tracked his phone without a warrant.

Comey’s lawyers filed motions Tuesday in federal court in North Carolina seeking dismissal on grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution. They also asked the court to suppress evidence from warrants for Comey’s accounts and to require the government to disclose grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment.

“Here, the government has singled out Mr. Comey for prosecution because President Trump harbors animus toward Mr. Comey and his protected speech,” Comey’s attorneys wrote, saying the case followed “the President’s urgings” and Comey’s successful challenge to an earlier indictment.

The Justice Department has denied that Comey was targeted because of his political views. A department spokesperson told CBS News, “A North Carolina grand jury indicted Comey, and he’ll have his day in court like any other defendant.”

The case stems from a May 2025 Instagram post in which Comey shared a photo of seashells arranged to form “86 47.” Comey said he came across the shells and believed they were a political message. The term “86” is commonly used to mean “eject” or “get rid of,” and Trump is the 47th president. Trump and allies said the post threatened the president’s life. Comey deleted it, saying, “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Comey is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 30 in New Bern, North Carolina, on two charges of threatening to kill the president. He filed a separate motion earlier this week arguing that the post was protected by the First Amendment and was not a “true threat.”

The new filing alleges the Secret Service conducted “illegal electronic surveillance of Mr. Comey at the request of a high-level DOJ official” shortly after the post. Materials submitted by Comey’s lawyers include internal Secret Service discussions about “pinging” Comey’s phone to locate him as he traveled between North Carolina and Virginia, including a request to Verizon for location information under an emergency claim.

“At that time we did not believe that anyone’s life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone,” an unnamed Secret Service official wrote in a message included in the filings. The Guardian reported that internal documents showed Trump requested updates on the investigation while it was underway. Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in a sworn affidavit that Comey’s phone was ultimately tracked and that Comey and his wife were followed as they drove.

Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said, “We have great respect for the judicial process. Because this matter is currently pending before a federal court, any and all comments will be made through our official court filings.”

Comey’s lawyers also challenged search warrants for digital accounts belonging to Comey and his wife, seeking a Franks hearing to determine whether the government misled magistrate judges. They said warrant affidavits omitted key facts and relied on a witness who had been estranged from Comey for at least two years, showed “intense bias” against him and initially understood “86” as restaurant slang before listening to Rudy Giuliani’s podcast.

The filings say investigators searched FBI records for references to “86” in cases Comey handled, including the prosecution of mob boss John Gambino, but found no references or only inconclusive results. The Guardian reported that agents also used ChatGPT and Google AI, which did not return definitive results, and interviewed former Gambino underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano. Gravano said the term can mean “to kill” or “to get rid of someone,” but did not recall discussing it with Comey, according to the filings.