James Comey Begs Judge to Dismiss Seashells Case Against Him

Former FBI Director James Comey’s legal team is trying to persuade a North Carolina judge to dismiss the Justice Department’s case against him.

Comey’s attorneys argued in court on Tuesday that allowing the prosecution to move forward would violate the former FBI director’s right to free speech.

From NBC News:

On Tuesday, members of Comey’s eight-person legal team filed a motion asking a judge to toss the seashells case, saying it is “not based on a good-faith application of the law to the facts; instead, it effectuates a yearslong campaign by the President to use the criminal process to punish Mr. Comey for his protected speech and because of the President’s deep-seated animosity.”

The Trump-driven case must be cast aside “under two bedrock legal doctrines,” they said: that the case was instigated based on Comey’s protected speech and that the government engaged in selective prosecution.

“Dismissal of federal criminal charges under these doctrines has historically been rare. That is because for decades the DOJ’s independence and integrity have guarded against the use of the criminal process to punish enemies or settle political scores,” they wrote. “The prosecutions of Mr. Comey mark a sharp break from that tradition.”

Comey’s team also filed a separate motion Tuesday seeking the disclosure of grand jury records in the case, arguing that while “grand jury proceedings are typically entitled to a presumption of regularity, the irregularities surrounding the return of the indictment in this case overcome that presumption.”

Comey’s team had already argued Monday that the seashells case should be tossed because Comey’s Instagram post was not a true threat, arguing that “dictionaries, context, precedent, and common sense” gut the Trump administration’s claims about the meaning of the numbers “8647.”

A Justice Department official who was not authorized to discuss the case previously told NBC News that the case was a “complete loser” and a “waste of resources” and predicted that it would be tossed before trial. “No reasonable person could believe that Comey intended to threaten the president via seashells,” the person said. “Everyone at this DOJ should be ashamed. I know I am.”

HUGE UPDATE in James Comey’s “86-47” Case https://t.co/mqA9McFvFH via @YouTube

— Joseph Carrion (@JosephC11969332) July 28, 2026

The case against Comey started in May 2025 when he posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell out “86 47” on a beach in North Carolina. The caption read, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

Prosecutors said the numbers indicated a threat to harm President Donald Trump, the 47th president, because “86” is slang that can be understood as getting rid of someone. Comey quickly deleted the post and wrote that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and that he “oppose[s] violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey are asking a federal judge to dismiss his criminal indictment, arguing that “dictionaries, context, precedent, and common sense” prove an Instagram photo of seashells was not a threat against President Trump. pic.twitter.com/sN40uUkqZD

— Sigma Three News (@SigmaThreeNews) July 28, 2026

A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted Comey on April 28, 2026, on two counts of knowingly making a threat against the president and transmitting that threat across state lines. Comey responded in a video: “Well, they’re back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me. I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So, let’s go.” 

His lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald said, “We will contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment.”

Comey asks judge to drop case over seashells Instagram post pic.twitter.com/Jb7SmPgkV3

— B.C. Begley (@BC_News1) July 28, 2026

Comey’s earlier conflicts with Trump go back to Trump’s first term in office. Trump fired Comey as FBI director in May 2017 while the bureau was looking into possible links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. 

The former FBI director had publicly confirmed the investigation and refused Trump’s requests for personal loyalty and to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The two have openly feuded ever since, with Trump repeatedly attacking Comey in public and Comey writing a critical memoir about the president. Trump once said of the seashells post that “a child knows what that meant” and that “it meant assassination.”

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