Federal court dismisses James Comey threat prosecution as politically motivated

Jul 29, 2026

Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey have filed a motion to dismiss a federal prosecution for allegedly threatening President Trump with an "86 47" Instagram post. Court filings reveal the Secret Service illegally surveilled Comey at the behest of the DOJ and that Trump personally reviewed interview notes. The motion argues the case is a politically motivated prosecution, citing a lack of evidence that the term "86" implies a threat.

Comey Instagram post

▪James Comey stated he was only familiar with the term "86" as restaurant slang for removing an item from a menu.
▪The Department of Justice indicted James Comey, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump's life with the "86 47" post.
▪The Secret Service briefly instituted a policy to treat "8647" as a coded threat but rescinded it the same day due to a surge in non-threatening leads.
▪Former FBI Director James Comey posted a photo on Instagram of seashells spelling "86 47" on May 15, 2025.

Illegal Secret Service surveillance

▪A Secret Service agent described the warrantless surveillance as legally a "bad idea" because there was no "imminent danger to life."
▪Secret Service agents tailed James Comey and his wife as they drove from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., including during a visit to their deceased son's grave.
▪The Secret Service used an "emergency" request to obtain James Comey's cellphone location data from Verizon without a warrant.
▪President Donald Trump personally requested a copy of the Secret Service's interview notes with James Comey for use in a 6 p.m. press conference.

FBI investigation timeline

▪The Secret Service closed its initial investigation by November 2025, classifying it as a "non-referred matter" with "no risk of an unwanted outcome."
▪The FBI launched its own investigation after the Secret Service had closed its case.
▪Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche revived the prosecution against James Comey.
▪A significant amount of FBI investigative activity occurred in April, about two weeks before James Comey was indicted.

Lack of evidence for threat

▪Gravano stated that while "86" could mean "kill," a real gangster would not use the term as it was too obvious to law enforcement.
▪The FBI consulted former mobster Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano to determine if "86" was a term for murder.
▪Two retired FBI agents with experience in organized crime cases told investigators they had never heard "86" used to mean "kill."
▪Former federal prosecutor John Gleeson called the claim that "86" is mafia jargon for "kill" "preposterous."
▪The FBI's database of communicated threats, active since 2007, contained zero instances of the term "eighty-six" before Comey's indictment.

Selective prosecution claims

▪Prior to Comey's post, over 200,000 products with phrases like "86 47" were available on Amazon without prompting any federal investigation.
▪The motion to dismiss argues the prosecution was driven by President Donald Trump's personal animus against James Comey.
▪Donald Trump fired James Comey in 2017 during the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.