A legal motion filed by former FBI Director James Comey's defense team alleges that Secret Service agents themselves flagged President Donald Trump's directive to surveil Comey as "likely illegal," a revelation that attorney and congressional candidate George Conway says could lead not only to dismissal of the charges but to impeachment proceedings against Trump and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Comey — who was fired by Trump in May 2017 amid the FBI's Russia investigation — faces charges of threatening the president stemming from a spring 2025 Instagram post showing seashells arranged to display the numbers "86 47." The phrase is widely interpreted as slang calling for the removal of Trump, the 47th president. In motions filed late Tuesday and reported by CBS News, Comey's lawyers argue the case "should be dismissed on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution" — a legal standard requiring evidence that a defendant was singled out for prosecution based on impermissible motives such as political animus, rather than legitimate law enforcement interests.

The motion accuses the Secret Service of conducting "illegal electronic surveillance of Mr. Comey at the request of a high-level DOJ official" without a warrant, initiated shortly after Comey's Instagram post. Federal law generally requires a court-ordered warrant for electronic location tracking, with narrow emergency exceptions that demand a demonstrable and immediate threat to life. According to the filing, a meeting took place on Air Force One between Trump and Secret Service agents, during which an agent supervisor informed the president that his request to electronically surveil Comey was "'legally' a 'bad idea' because there was no belief of 'imminent danger to life' to justify warrantless surveillance."

Another agent reportedly agreed the request was "legally questionable" but indicated they "might do it anyway. The next day, the Secret Service conducted that surveillance."

CBS News reports that filings submitted by Comey's lawyers reveal internal discussions among Secret Service staff about "pinging" Comey's phone to track its location — a practice some personnel questioned — as well as a request to Verizon for location information justified as an "emergency" situation.

"'At that time we did not believe that anyone's life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone,' an unnamed Secret Service official said."

The affidavit, filed by Comey's attorney Patrick Fitzgerald — the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois who previously led high-profile investigations including the CIA leak probe — cited "substantial discovery provided by the Government." The underlying court filings are available here and here.

George Conway — a lawyer, columnist, and congressional candidate who was previously married to former senior Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway — stated that the evidence contained in the filings could have consequences extending well beyond Comey's case.

"Way more than enough evidence in these papers not only to get Comey's charges 86'd before trial in federal district court, but also to get Blanche — and Trump — 86'd at an impeachment trial in the Senate," Conway wrote in a post on X.

The motion further argues that the prosecution reflects a clear pattern of "intense bias," stating: "Here, the government has singled out Mr. Comey for prosecution because President Trump harbors animus toward Mr. Comey and his protected speech, and it has done so in direct response to the president's urgings." The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where a judge will weigh the defense's dismissal motions against the government's opposition filings.