James Comey Readies Arguments for Claim of ‘Vindictive’ Prosecution on Charges of Threatening Trump

The former director of the FBI, James Comey, has until July 28 to make his case for why a judge should dismiss the criminal charges he faces for allegedly threatening the life of President Trump on Instagram.Tuesday is the deadline for Mr. Comey to argue that the charges handed up against him in April are fruits of a “selective and vindictive” push to prosecute him. If Mr. Comey fails to persuade Judge Louise Flanagan of the Eastern District of North Carolina that the charges are invalid, he will stand trial in September. Mr. Comey has asserted his innocence in the case. The charges stem from a photograph he posted in May 2025 that showed seashells arranged on a beach in a pattern that formed the cryptic message “86 47.” The first number has long been used in restaurants and bars for “to get rid of” or to “nix” — with which it rhymes. Merriam-Webster notes that the meaning “comes from 1930s soda-counter slang meaning that an item was sold out.”The second number, “47,” is a reference to the place of Mr. Trump in the pantheon of presidents. Mr. Comey deleted the image soon after he posted it, and claims that he did not intend any violence. The Department of Justice alleges in its complaint that the post conveys “a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States.” The DOJ asserts that a “reasonable recipient” of the post “who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret it as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump.”Mr. Comey has said: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” The post was captioned, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Mr. Comey last week asked Judge Flanagan for an expanded page count for the brief due next week because it would permit him “to present all of the relevant arguments and law in one memorandum.”For a defendant to succeed on a motion to dismiss charges as selective and vindictive — a violation of the Constitution’s due process clauses — he or she must clear a high bar. Courts presume that prosecutors act in good faith and afford them a wide berth with respect to discretion. Dismissal requires the showing of a specific discriminatory or arbitrary purpose as well as a record of other similarly situated potential defendants who were not charged.In 1886, the Supreme Court found in Yick Wo v. Hopkins that the due process and equal protection promises do not “leave room for the play and action of purely personal and arbitrary power.” This is the second time that Mr. Comey has been charged by the Trump administration. Last year, he was prosecuted at the Eastern District of Virginia on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding in connection with testimony he delivered in 2020. The subject was leaks that marred the investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election.Mr. Comey — and another defendant in a separate case in the same district, New York’s attorney general, Letitia James — moved to dismiss their charges on grounds that those prosecutions were selective and vindictive. They pointed to a social media post by Mr. Trump, directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, that declared, “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” He also insisted that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”Those charges ultimately were dismissed on separate grounds after the presiding judge, Cameron McGowan Currie, found that the prosecutor in charge, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed by Ms. Bondi. She was serving on a temporary basis without Senate confirmation. The DOJ has appealed that ruling, and if the case is reinstated, Judge Currie will rule on his other motions for dismissal.

James Comey Readies Arguments for Claim of ‘Vindictive’ Prosecution on Charges of Threatening Trump

James Comey Readies Arguments for Claim of ‘Vindictive’ Prosecution on Charges of Threatening Trump

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