Legal experts warn Comey ‘86 47’ indictment faces First Amendment hurdles
Legal questions are emerging over whether charges against former FBI Director James Comey would withstand a First Amendment challenge as he is indicted for a social media post allegedly tied...
By Fox News · Fox News
Legal questions are emerging over whether charges against former FBI Director James Comey would withstand a First Amendment challenge as he is indicted for a social media post allegedly tied to threats against President Donald Trump. Comey faced charges Tuesday under 18 U.S.C. § 871, which criminalizes threats against the president, and 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which covers interstate communications containing threats to harm others. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital just before the indictment was released that, if the case is based solely on the widely circulated image posted by Comey, it could face steep constitutional hurdles. "If Comey is charged for the shell picture, it would face a monumental challenge under the First Amendment," Turley said. "In my view, the image itself is clearly protected speech. Absent some other unknown facts or elements, it would be unlikely to survive a threshold constitutional challenge ." JAMES COMEY INDICTED AGAIN IN NEW JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE Both statutes require prosecutors to prove not only that a statement constituted a "true threat," but that it was made knowingly and with intent —standards that legal analysts say could prove difficult to meet based on publicly available information. The indictment was filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey allegedly posted the image of seashells forming the numbers "8647" during a beach walk. Others pushed back on the idea that the case raises significant First Amendment concerns, arguing that threats against a sitting president fall squarely outside protected speech. "The third assassination attempt against President Trump on Saturday made this crystal clear: The Justice Department must prosecute those who threaten to assassinate the President," said Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project. "No one has a First Amendment right to do this. No one is above the law, especially not a former director of the FBI who…