{"id":20723,"date":"2026-07-29T07:54:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20723"},"modified":"2026-07-29T07:54:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:54:47","slug":"james-comey-files-motion-to-dismiss-his-indictment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20723","title":{"rendered":"James Comey Files Motion to Dismiss His Indictment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-wrap\">\n<div class=\"o-share-btn-wrap\">\n<div id=\"post-social\">\n<div class=\"o-share-wrap\">\n<p>    <button class=\"o-share-btn o-share-btn-article\">Share<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-share\">\n<div class=\"share-reddit o-share-item is-hidden\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.location = '\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=\" encodeuricomponent=\"\" return=\"\" false=\"\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64, 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\" alt=\"submit to reddit\" border=\"0\" width=\"58\" height=\"20\"\/> <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n      <button id=\"copy-button\" data-copy-url=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/james-comey-files-scorching-motion-to-have-his-indictment-thrown-out-accuses-trump-doj-of-selective-and-vindictive-prosecution\">Copy\u00a0Link<\/button>&#13;\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"o-comments-link u-disqus-count c-article__comments-link\" aria-label=\"Comments\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/james-comey-files-scorching-motion-to-have-his-indictment-thrown-out-accuses-trump-doj-of-selective-and-vindictive-prosecution\/#open-comments\" data-disqus-identifier=\"5746353 https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/?p=5746353\">\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"post-body\">\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5746356\" src=\"https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Everyone-Is-Being-Really-Stupid-About-Trump-Non-Assassination-Non-Threat-Including-Trump-And-Comey-768x402-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/am11.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Everyone-Is-Being-Really-Stupid-About-Trump-Non-Assassination-Non-Threat-Including-Trump-And-Comey-768x402-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/am11.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Everyone-Is-Being-Really-Stupid-About-Trump-Non-Assassination-Non-Threat-Including-Trump-And-Comey-768x402-1-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Former FBI Director <strong>James Comey<\/strong> filed a scorching motion to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/trump\/read-james-comey-indictment-reveals-hes-been-charged-with-a-serious-expression-of-an-intent-to-do-harm-to-the-president\/\">dismiss the indictment against him<\/a> \u2014 accusing President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> and the DOJ of \u2018selective and vindictive prosecution.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nced.227449\/gov.uscourts.nced.227449.36.0.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">54-page filing<\/a> late Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in North Carolina, the former FBI Director slammed the DOJ for bringing the case against him. Comey was charged, in April 2026, with two criminal counts connected to a social media post in which he depicted seashells arranged to show the numbers \u201c86 47\u201d \u2014 which the DOJ contends is \u201cserious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the second indictment that the DOJ has obtained against Mr. Comey in less than a year\u2014both at President Trump\u2019s direction,\u201d the brief read. \u201cIn September 2025, President Trump ordered the DOJ to prosecute Mr. Comey for unspecified crimes. A White House aide improperly installed as U.S. Attorney swiftly executed that directive, securing an indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia. Yet because that indictment was fatally defective, a district court quickly dismissed it. The<br \/>President thereafter fired the Attorney General.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Comey\u2019s motion argued, \u201cthe ensuing indictment is not based on a good-faith application of the law to the facts; instead, it effectuates a years-long campaign by the President to use the criminal process to punish Mr. Comey for his protected speech and because of the President\u2019s deep-seated animosity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legal argument the brief is centered on is the claim that Comey\u2019s post was protected speech under the First Amendment. <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe indictment must be dismissed under two bedrock legal doctrines. First, the government instigated this prosecution based on Mr. Comey\u2019s protected speech and to vindicate the President\u2019s animus towards Mr. Comey, in violation of First Amendment and due process principles. Second, the government engaged in selective prosecution, in violation of equal<br \/>protection principles. Dismissal of federal criminal charges under these doctrines has historically been rare. That is because for decades the DOJ\u2019s independence and integrity have guarded against the use of the criminal process to punish enemies or settle political scores. The prosecutions of Mr. Comey mark a sharp break from that tradition. Ample objective evidence\u2014much of which comes directly from government officials\u2019 own public statements and admissions\u2014establishes that the President\u2019s animus toward Mr. Comey led to this vindictive and selective prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>New: The Mediaite One-Sheet &#8220;Newsletter of Newsletters&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/subscribe\">Subscribe now!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share &#13; Copy\u00a0Link&#13; \u00a0 Former FBI Director James Comey filed a scorching motion to dismiss the indictment against him \u2014 accusing President Donald Trump and the DOJ of \u2018selective and vindictive prosecution.\u2019 In a 54-page filing late Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in North Carolina, the former FBI Director slammed the DOJ for bringing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Everyone-Is-Being-Really-Stupid-About-Trump-Non-Assassination-Non-Threat-Including-Trump-And-Comey.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}