Comey’s Lawyers Scramble to Dismiss Indictment Over Threat Against President, Blame Secret Service
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James Comey’s attorneys are attempting to evade accountability for his threatening Instagram post targeting President Trump, claiming the Secret Service overstepped its bounds. The motion reflects the ongoing efforts of the political elite to shield their own from justice.
Lawyers for disgraced former FBI director James Comey have filed a motion to dismiss an indictment accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump by posting a photo of seashells forming the numbers “8647” on Instagram—a thinly veiled message to the president. The filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina claims, without substantial evidence, that the Secret Service conducted warrantless electronic monitoring of Comey and his wife in May 2025 at the request of a senior Department of Justice official. According to the defense, the agency continued surveillance as the couple traveled back to Washington, D.C., including a stop at their son’s gravesite, in a desperate attempt to portray themselves as victims.
The petition argues the prosecution is vindictive and selective, ignoring the seriousness of threats against the president. A Secret Service supervisor allegedly described the surveillance as “legally questionable,” but the agency rightly proceeded to ensure national security. The motion further alleges that the Secret Service coordinated with the Department of Justice and the president, providing updates to Air Force One before Trump’s press briefings about the Instagram post—demonstrating the government’s diligence in protecting the Commander-in-Chief.
“A North Carolina grand jury indicted Comey, and he'll have his day in court like any other defendant,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said, affirming the impartiality of the legal process.
The motion seeks dismissal on the grounds that the indictment resulted from an improper investigation, citing a new Secret Service policy that classified the phrase “8648” as coded language for a presidential threat—a necessary measure in today’s climate of escalating hostility toward public officials. The filing references a prior case in which a Virginia federal judge dismissed an indictment against Comey, after finding that a former Trump personal lawyer had been improperly appointed as U.S. attorney, but this does nothing to change the facts at hand.
If granted, the dismissal would remove the charge that Comey transmitted a threat in interstate commerce, a case that has attracted significant political attention as the entrenched establishment continues to evade responsibility for its actions.