Former FBI Director James Comey asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss the Trump administration’s indictment over his social media post featuring seashells in the shape of “86 47,” an apparent threat against the president, as alleged by the Department of Justice.
The defendant’s lawyers insisted the controversial post did not constitute a “true threat” against President Donald Trump and that it was “mere political hyperbole” instead.
Trump has interpreted “86 47” messages as open calls for his assassination, but Comey denies that was his intention.
“To justify this prosecution, the indictment alleges that Mr. Comey’s ‘86 47’ post constitutes a ‘true threat’ on the President’s life. That claim is contradicted by every possible source of meaning: dictionaries, context, precedent, and common sense,” Comey’s attorneys wrote in a supplementary document accompanying their motion to dismiss.
“‘86’ simply means ‘get rid of’ or ‘eject’ and has no violent connotation except in the most uncommon usages. Most dictionaries do not even list the meaning—’to kill’—that the government now proposes. And when combined with “47”—slang for President Trump, the forty-seventh President—’86’ becomes nothing more than a call to oppose President Trump,” they said. “Thus, in this context, no reasonable observer would understand the phrase ‘86 47’ to connote violence at all—let alone to threaten that Mr. Comey personally would commit violence against the President.”
The motion was submitted in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey allegedly snapped a photo of the seashells while he was walking along the beach last year. He later deleted the post after the numbers sparked controversy, prompting an investigation by the Secret Service.
Comey has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. He faces two charges for threatening the president.
The federal case marks the second time that the former FBI director has been indicted during Trump’s second term. The first indictment, filed over Comey’s alleged obstruction of Congress, was dismissed by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia last year. It remains to be seen whether the federal judge in North Carolina will dismiss the second indictment.
BLANCHE SAYS IT WAS ‘NOT JUST’ COMEY’S ’86 47′ SEASHELL POST THAT LED TO INDICTMENT
In the court document, Comey’s attorneys make the case that the federal government’s criminal prosecution of their client is violating his free speech rights under the First Amendment. They noted he merely posted the image of the seashells, which were arranged in the “86 47” formation by the time Comey got to the beach. This indicates another person made the political statement.
“Forcing Mr. Comey to stand trial for a statement opposing the President—even if he is ultimately acquitted—would itself be an unconstitutional punishment of free speech,” the lawyers wrote. “And it would invite future prosecutions by the Executive Branch against perceived political enemies for their opposition to the President.”