A federal grand jury has indicted former FBI Director James Comey over an Instagram post in which Seashells arranged to write “86 47”, after President Donald Trump and his allies claimed it represented a call to violence against Trump.
The since-deleted post, which Comey posted during a beach trip last May, caused an uproar among Trump allies and FBI and Homeland Security officials pledged to investigate it as a threat.
Grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina on Tuesday Comey was convicted on two counts: Threatening to kill or injure Trump and transmitting threats in interstate commerce via Instagram.
The word “86” generally means “Get rid of” or “Take out” Someone or something, and “47” is a reference to Trump’s presidency. Comey, who posted the image after claiming to have stumbled upon a “cool shell formation on my beach,” has long rejected suggestions that he intended it as a threat against Trump. Comey said he did not understand the word “86” to denote violence.
“I said, well, for me, as a kid, it always meant leaving a place, leaving a place,” Comey told MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace in an interview about the incident last year. “I said, that’s really clever.”
Comey deleted the post amid a furious response from Trump allies, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who said Comey should be “behind bars.” Trump himself told Fox News at the time He believes Comey intentionally posted the image as a threat.
Speaking at a news conference at Justice Department headquarters, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch said the charges against Comey were part of the Justice Department’s broader commitment to pursue threats.
Blanch said, “Threatening anyone’s life is dangerous and potentially a crime. Threatening the life of the President of the United States will never be tolerated by the Justice Department.” Comey’s “alleged conduct is the kind of conduct we will never tolerate, will always investigate and routinely prosecute.”
FBI Director Kash Patel revealed that the grand jury was told that Comey deleted the message and apologized. “All that information was presented to the grand jury,” Patel said.
Court records showed that an arrest warrant was issued for the former FBI chief following the indictment. Blanch said prosecutors did not request it, but the court filed Include a memorandum from the US Attorney’s Office Asking for a warrant. It was not immediately clear if Comey had been or would be arrested.
former fbi chief posted a video Substack on Tuesday condemned the allegations as a political vendetta by Trump supporters.
“We will, they’re back,” Comey said in the video. “This won’t be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me. I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So, let’s go.”
The new threats case against Comey has been filed against New Bern-based George W. Bush-appointed U.S. District Judge Lewis Flanagan.
The case is the Justice Department’s latest effort to bring criminal charges against Comey, a longtime Trump adversary, whom the president accuses of embroiling him in a years-long investigation related to his contacts with Russia, a probe that overshadowed his first term. Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017, leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation that has dogged Trump for years.
Last year, Trump called on then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring unspecified criminal charges against Comey and other alleged enemies and demanded immediate action. Within weeks, a prosecutor hand-picked by Trump – his former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan – oversaw the prosecution of Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both cases were dismissed together in November by a judge who found that Halligan’s appointment as interim US attorney was illegal.
The Justice Department has also struggled to bring other politically explosive cases, including a failed effort to convict six congressional Democrats for urging members of the military to disobey illegal orders and its recently canceled investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which drew bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill.
Comey’s new trial comes amid a renewed focus on political violence following Saturday’s attack by an alleged gunman at the White House correspondents’ dinner.
The line between First Amendment protected speech and the kinds of threats that can be prosecuted is complex and has divided jurists on the Supreme Court and lower courts. But Blanche said he considered it obvious. “I don’t think it’s a very hard line to look at, and I don’t think it’s a hard line to cross one way or the other,” he said.
When asked why it took almost a year to charge the case, Blanch and Patel said it required a thorough investigation. Blanch also said that the protection of privileged communications was delayed due to Comey’s status as a lawyer and a person who consults with lawyers.
But Comey said in his video that the clock is ticking for Trump and his allies. He added, “It’s really important that we all remember that that’s not who we are as a country. That’s not what the Justice Department is supposed to be. And the good news is that we’re getting closer to restoring those values ​​every day.”
