Comey's lawyers
ON THE RECORD · 8 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“not based on a goodfaith 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”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's lawyers described the indictment this way while alleging it stemmed from Trump's animosity toward Comey.
“Another search returned a document indicating that the Merriam-Webster dictionary does not officially enter a violent meaning for '86' because it is relatively recent and lacks widespread use compared to its hospitality meanings.”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
The filing noted that Merriam-Webster does not officially list a violent meaning for '86.'
“well-known political slogan that expresses opposition to the president.”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's attorneys argued in a July filing that '86 47' is a common political slogan expressing opposition to Trump.
“The indictment alleges that Mr Comey’s ‘86 47’ post constitutes a ‘true threat; on the President’s life,”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's lawyers made this argument in a filing seeking dismissal of the indictment against him.
“vindictive and selective prosecution”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's lawyers used this phrase in arguing the case should be dismissed as vindictive and selective prosecution.
“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”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's lawyers argued this point in seeking dismissal of the case on First Amendment grounds.
“the FBI conducted both open-source queries and artificial intelligence searches — namely, on Google AI and ChatGPT — about the term '86.'”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's filing described FBI open-source and AI searches conducted in May 2026 about the meaning of the term '86.'
“That claim is contradicted by every possible source of meaning: dictionaries, context, precedent, and common sense. ‘86’ simply means ‘get rid of’ or ‘eject’ and has no violent connotation except in the most uncommon usages.”
Comey's lawyers · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Comey's lawyers argued this in disputing the government's characterization of his '86 47' post as a true threat.