DOJ References Comey's Novel in Trump Threat Case

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has referenced a novel penned by James Comey in its plea to a federal judge to not dismiss the criminal charges against the former FBI director. Comey is accused of threatening President Donald Trump through an Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers '86 47' on a North Carolina beach.

Prosecutors, in a recent court filing, drew a parallel between Comey and a right-wing podcaster from his fictional work, 'FDR Drive.' They suggest Comey, much like the character in his book, used the internet to convey a coded message to his followers, implying a directive to harm an adversary.

"On May 15, 2025, a charismatic leader named James Comey, through the wonder of the internet, posted a coded message to his followers meaning 'kill' or 'get rid of' (a euphemism for 'kill') President Trump," stated the filing submitted by the U.S. Attorney W. Ellis Boyle's office to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

This filing was among several submitted on Tuesday in response to Comey's legal team's motion to dismiss the indictment, which they argue is based on vindictive and selective prosecution. Comey has been a vocal critic of Trump and was a frequent target of the president before his dismissal as FBI director in 2017.

Comey's attorneys contend that the seashells post was not intended as a threat. They point out that in restaurant terminology, '86' signifies that an item is no longer available, and Trump is the 47th president of the United States.

However, Boyle's office maintains in their filing that "There is no serious dispute that an objective viewer of Comey's post could read it to mean 'Kill President Trump.'"

The filing further states, "Comey has admitted that the '47' referred to President Trump." It also cites Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2nd edition), which defines '86' with meanings including "to throw out, get rid of (1940's), (1970) to kill, to murder to execute judicially, (1980) to be finished, ready to leave or out of an item or be exhausted."

In a sworn affidavit filed on Tuesday, Boyle asserted that "no one ordered, directed or pressured" him to pursue charges against Comey.

Comey's legal team, in their filing from late July, argued that the phrase '86 47' is a "well-known political slogan that expresses opposition to the president."

"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," the defense's motion to dismiss reads.

Comey's filing also noted that in May 2026, at the direct instruction of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the FBI conducted both open-source and AI-driven searches (on Google AI and ChatGPT) for the term '86.'

"The search yielded varying results, including one that stated: 'Many career law enforcement officials, including former FBI agents, have publicly disputed this, stating they never heard '86' being used for murder in 35 + years of duty, considering it purely a restaurant or bar item for removal.'"

"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.'"

Previously, Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia in September 2025 on charges related to allegedly providing false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. He has denied all wrongdoing.

A judge dismissed that initial case in November, ruling that Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney for Trump, had been unlawfully appointed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and therefore lacked the authority to secure the indictment against Comey.