Comey lawyers seek dismissal over seashell post case, alleging prosecutorial misconduct

Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey have asked a US court to dismiss the criminal case against him, saying prosecutors distorted evidence and omitted key details in their handling of an Instagram post involving seashells arranged as "86 47". The filing was made on Tuesday and accuses the government of misconduct, political retribution and selective prosecution. Comey was charged in April over the post, which prosecutors say was a reference to killing US President Donald Trump.

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The defence says the case is built on irregularities and that public statements by government officials show the president's animus toward Comey influenced the prosecution. In one filing, the lawyers said there was "ample objective evidence" that the case was vindictive. Comey has denied that the post carried any violent meaning, and his lawyers argue the government omitted important context and misrepresented other details.

The Department of Justice has maintained that the numbers in the post amounted to a threat. Comey faces one count of threatening the president and one count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

The dispute centres on the meaning of "86", a term often used in restaurants to mean cancel or remove, while prosecutors say it has criminal connotations in this context. Rights advocates have also questioned whether the case can survive a First Amendment challenge, given that the post was a social media image rather than an explicit threat. The case has become part of a wider pattern of politically charged legal action involving critics of Donald Trump.

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The supporting material says federal prosecutors have also brought cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, both of whom have been critical of the president. In that broader context, Comey's lawyers are trying to frame the prosecution as an example of selective enforcement rather than a straightforward threat case. That argument could matter well beyond this case because it raises questions about how far prosecutors can go when interpreting ambiguous online speech.

Comey, who once led the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has long been a target of Trump's criticism, and the case has drawn attention because of his former role and the political history between the two men. The charge stems from a post shared last year showing seashells on a beach arranged to spell "86 47", with "47" understood as a reference to Trump's presidency. The defence says the government's own public statements support its claim that the prosecution was driven by hostility toward Comey.

The court has not yet ruled on the dismissal request. What happens next will depend on whether the judge accepts the defence argument that the case should be thrown out for misconduct or vindictive prosecution. It is also unclear how the court will assess the meaning of the post under criminal law and the First Amendment.

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