{"id":4084,"date":"2026-07-29T11:37:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4084"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:37:55","slug":"secret-service-made-legally-bad-decision-to-surveil-comey-court-docs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4084","title":{"rendered":"Secret Service made ‘legally bad’ decision to surveil Comey: court docs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former FBI director James Comey\u2019s defense on Tuesday detailed the \u201cbizarre aspects of the federal investigation\u201d related to his alleged threat against President Donald Trump, Politico reports.<\/p>\n

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in April over a May 2025 photo on Instagram that spelled out \u201c86-47\u201d in seashells.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s sudden obsession with an old enemy is not what it seems<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Comey\u2019s filing, one such bizarre aspect included law enforcement tracking Comey \u201cvia his cellphone\u201d as he made the drive from \u201cNorth Carolina to northern Virginia shortly after\u201d making the Instagram post. <\/p>\n

As Politico reports, \u201cSuch \u2018exigency\u2019 tracking, which takes place without a warrant, requires law enforcement to claim that there\u2019s \u2019an imminent threat to life or limb,\u2019 a Secret Service official wrote, .”<\/p>\n

According to the filing, one anonymous official said in a message that law enforcement \u201cdid not believe that anyone\u2019s life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comey’s attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, argued the charges against the former FBI director should be dismissed \u201con the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution,\u201d CBS News reports. The motion was also \u201caccompanied by a 76-page-long spreadsheet listing out all of the insults Trump and Comey have hurled at each other over the last nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motion also calls out the government\u2019s “illegal electronic surveillance of Comey at the request of a high-level DOJ official.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defense attributed the details about law enforcement\u2019s surveillance of Comey to \u201csubstantial discovery provided by the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comey\u2019s Tuesday filing follows a separate motion Monday that argued the Instagram post constitutes free speech and a photo depicting \u201c86-47\u201d can\u2019t be considered a \u201ctrue threat,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

Read more The unsettling story behind Trump\u2019s secret plan for a \u2018friendly takeover\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former FBI director James Comey\u2019s defense on Tuesday detailed the \u201cbizarre aspects of the federal investigation\u201d related to his alleged threat against President Donald Trump, Politico reports. Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in April over a May 2025 photo on Instagram that spelled out \u201c86…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSecret Service made 'legally bad' decision to surveil Comey: court docs - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4084\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Secret Service made 'legally bad' decision to surveil Comey: court docs - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former FBI director James Comey\u2019s defense on Tuesday detailed the \u201cbizarre aspects of the federal investigation\u201d related to his alleged threat against President Donald Trump, Politico reports. 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