2026年7月27日 / 美国东部时间下午12:16 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿讯 前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米周一敦促一名联邦法官驳回一项指控他威胁总统特朗普生命的起诉书，称该指控针对的是受第一修正案保护的言论，且核心指控中的“86 47”字样并无暴力含义。
科米的律师在驳回该案的动议中写道，今年早些时候联邦大陪审团作出的起诉书“针对并压制”了政治言论。他们写道，第一修正案禁止政府利用刑事起诉惩罚政治对手。
“强迫科米先生为一项反对总统的声明接受审判——即便他最终被判无罪——本身就是对言论自由的违宪惩罚，”科米的辩护团队写道，“这还会招致未来行政部门因 perceived 政治对手反对总统而对其提起诉讼。”
他们辩称，对科米的起诉书应当被驳回，因为起诉书并未指控他对特朗普先生作出了真正的威胁。
科米面临两项威胁杀害总统的罪名，源于他去年在Instagram上短暂发布的一张照片：照片中贝壳在沙滩上排列成“86 47”的数字。
检察官声称，“理性的接收者”会将这些贝壳的描绘解读为“严肃表达了伤害特朗普总统的意图”。
科米在发布照片后很快将其删除，并在当时表示，他认为贝壳造型传递的是一个政治信息。他在2025年5月表示，自己当时并未意识到这些数字可能与暴力有关，删除帖子是因为“我反对任何形式的暴力”。
这位前联邦调查局局长定于9月下旬接受传讯，并已宣称自己无罪。
科米预计将提交多份动议，以多种理由要求驳回对他的指控，包括对他的起诉具有选择性且带有报复性。
在首次就起诉书涉及的第一修正案问题提交的文件中，他的律师表示，“86”一词意为“摆脱”或“驱逐”，“除了极罕见的用法外，并无暴力含义”。辩护团队援引了“86”一词的其他使用案例，包括佛罗里达州前共和党众议员马特·盖茨在多名共和党领导人被免职时使用过该短语。
但即便科米的帖子被解读为暗示暴力，他的律师表示，理性观察者会将其认定为政治夸张言论，而这是受第一修正案保护的。
“无论人们如何看待科米先生的信息，本案唯一的问题在于他的帖子是否属于受保护的言论。既然属于，起诉书就必须被驳回，”他们写道。
科米的律师警告了让针对他的刑事诉讼继续推进的后果。
他们表示，维持起诉书将“允许政府仅通过提起毫无根据的指控，并让从事受保护言论的人承担审判负担，就能压制政治反对声音”。
科米一直是总统的常见攻击目标，原因是他在特朗普首届任期内发起的2016年总统选举俄罗斯干预调查中所扮演的角色。
他去年在另一桩案件中被起诉，该案涉及他2020年9月向国会作证的内容。但一名法官认定，提起并确保该起诉书的检察官被不当任命为临时美国检察官，因此这些指控被驳回。
美国司法部已就该裁决提起上诉。
Comey asks judge to drop case over seashells Instagram post, arguing speech is protected by First Amendment
July 27, 2026 / 12:16 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — Former FBI Director James Comey urged a federal judge on Monday to throw out an indictment alleging he threatened President Trump’s life, arguing that it targets speech protected by the First Amendment and that the phrase at the center of the charges, “86 47,” does not connote violence.
Lawyers for Comey wrote in their motion to dismiss the case that the indictment returned by a federal grand jury earlier this year “targets and chills” political speech. The First Amendment, they wrote, prohibits the government from using criminal prosecution to punish a political opponent.
“Forcing Mr. Comey to stand trial for a statement opposing the President — even if he is ultimately acquitted — would itself be an unconstitutional punishment of free speech,” Comey’s defense team wrote. “And it would invite future prosecutions by the Executive Branch against perceived political enemies for their opposition to the President.”
They argued that the indictment against Comey should be dismissed because it does not allege he made a true threat against Mr. Trump.
Comey faces two charges of threatening to kill the president, which stem from a photo he briefly posted to his Instagram account last year that showed seashells arranged in the sand to form the numbers “86 47.”
Prosecutors claim that a “reasonable recipient” would interpret the depiction of the shells “as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump.”
Comey deleted the image soon after he shared it and said at the time that he believed the shell formation was communicating a political message. He said in May 2025 that he didn’t realize that the numbers may be associated with violence and took the post down because “I oppose violence of any kind.”
The former FBI director is set to be arraigned in late September and has proclaimed he is innocent of the charges.
Comey is expected to file several motions seeking to have the charges against him dismissed on a variety of grounds, including that the prosecution against him is selective and vindictive.
In their first filing raising First Amendment issues with the indictment, his lawyers said that the phrase “86” means “to get rid of” or “eject,” and “has no violent connotation except in the most uncommon usages.” The defense team cited several other instances where the phrase “86” has been used, including by former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida in response to the removal of several GOP leaders from their roles.
But even if Comey’s post is read to imply violence, his lawyers said, it would be recognized by a reasonable observer as political hyperbole, which is protected by the First Amendment.
“Whatever one thinks of Mr. Comey’s message, the only question here is whether his post is protected speech. Because it is, the indictment must be dismissed,” they wrote.
Comey’s lawyers warned of the consequences of letting the criminal case against him move forward.
Allowing the indictment to stand would “permit the government to chill political opposition merely by filing unfounded charges and imposing the burdens of a trial on someone who engaged in protected speech,” they said.
Comey is a frequent target of the president’s due to his role in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, which the FBI launched in Mr. Trump’s first term.
He was indicted last year in a separate case that involved testimony Comey gave to Congress in September 2020. But those charges were dismissed when a judge found that the prosecutor who pursued and secured the indictment had been improperly appointed interim U.S. attorney.
The Justice Department has appealed that decision.