James Comey legal team argues DOJ’s seashells case erodes ‘bedrock’ principles

Justice DepartmentJames Comey legal team argues DOJ’s seashells case erodes ‘bedrock’ principlesIt’s the second time the Trump administration has found a way to criminally charge the former FBI director, whom Trump has targeted for years.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging former FBI Director James Comey over an Instagram photo he posted of seashells spelling out a message about President Donald Trump last year.NBC; @comey via InstagramShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 28, 2026, 11:21 PM EDTBy Ryan J. Reilly and Gary GrumbachAllowing the seashells-based prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey to move forward would erode core constitutional rights protecting free speech, Comey’s legal team told a federal judge in North Carolina on Tuesday.On Monday, members of Comey’s eight-person legal team filed a motion asking a judge to toss the seashells case, saying it is “not based on a good-faith 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.”The Trump-driven case must be cast aside “under two bedrock legal doctrines,” they said: that the case was instigated based on Comey’s protected speech and that the government engaged in selective prosecution.“Dismissal of federal criminal charges under these doctrines has historically been rare. That is because for decades the DOJ’s independence and integrity have guarded against the use of the criminal process to punish enemies or settle political scores,” they wrote. “The prosecutions of Mr. Comey mark a sharp break from that tradition.”Comey’s team also filed a separate motion Tuesday seeking the disclosure of grand jury records in the case, arguing that while “grand jury proceedings are typically entitled to a presumption of regularity, the irregularities surrounding the return of the...