PEN America, a leading free-expression group, has condemned federal prosecutors' use of a novel by former FBI director James Comey in their case accusing him of threatening to kill Donald Trump. In a statement posted on Friday, Mara Gassmann, PEN America's legal director, said: "Citing a novel to save an indictment that is constitutionally dubious is a desperate Hail Mary and should be rejected."
Prosecutors Cite Novel in Legal Filing
Prosecutors with the Trump administration-led justice department argued in a filing days earlier that Comey sent coded messages to his followers suggesting they kill an enemy of his, citing the fictional protagonist – a federal prosecutor – in his novel FDR Drive. The book's main character tries to take down a far-right media personality, Sam Buchanan.
The filing quotes passages from the book and a Publishers Weekly review that described a prosecutor who "believes Buchanan went far beyond the protection of the first amendment" when he "singled out his enemies by name and suggested 'something should be done' about them." The citation is part of a legal effort to sustain the prosecution of Comey on charges that he made a threat against the US president and transmitted that threat across state lines through social media.
Background of the Threat Accusation
The charges stem from an image Comey posted on Instagram while vacationing in North Carolina five days before the publication of FDR Drive. Prosecutors maintain there is "no serious dispute" that Comey's May 2025 social media post featuring a photo of seashells arranged to read "8647" could be interpreted as a threat against Trump, who according to authorities has been the target of multiple assassination attempts.
The number "86" is often used as shorthand to mean to get rid of or remove something, particularly in the restaurant service industry, to which Comey once belonged. Trump, meanwhile, is the 47th US president. Those documents were filed on Tuesday in response to Comey's efforts to have the case dismissed.
Comey's Defense and PEN America's Response
Comey, who has denied the charges, has said it "never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down." His lawyers argue that the post was protected speech and did not amount to a "true threat" against the president. "In this context, no reasonable observer would understand the phrase '86 47' to connote violence at all – let alone to threaten that Mr Comey personally would commit violence against the president," they contend.
The government's filing also claims that Comey had an "apparent financial incentive to stir up controversy," suggesting the seashell photo was shared to boost sales for his "eerily on-the-nose novel." Comey's novel has sold 6,471 copies, according to Circana BookScan.
In PEN America's statement, Gassmann said: "A political message, expressed through a photo of seashells, is no true threat; now, the government's use of Comey's work of fiction to support this prosecution compounds the first amendment concerns." Her statement added: "Extreme caution should be taken any time creative works are used to support criminal charges to protect the free expression rights of us all."
Comey's attorneys also say their client is being subjected to "vindictive and selective prosecution" and have said the indictment is "not based on a good faith application of the law to the facts." Instead, they say, "it effectuates a years-long 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."
