Former FBI Director James Comey faces charges over an Instagram post showing seashells arranged as "8647," which officials say threatened President Trump.
4:41 PM
The Justice Department has secured a two-count indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, charging him with knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of and inflict bodily harm on President Trump, and knowingly and willfully transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to kill the president.
The charges stem from an image Comey posted to Instagram in May 2025 that showed seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers "86 47." The number 86 is slang meaning to cancel or dismiss something, while 47 refers to Trump's position as the 47th president. According to the indictment, a "reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances" would interpret the depiction as "a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump."
When the image was initially posted, Trump accused Comey of "calling for the assassination of the president." Comey denied he was threatening the president in a follow-up post, writing, "I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence." He said he deleted the post because "I oppose violence of any kind." The Justice Department initially dropped the matter, but it has now been revived.
This marks the second time the Trump administration's Justice Department has indicted Comey, a longtime critic and opponent of the president. Comey was first indicted in September 2025 on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice. A federal judge dismissed that case in November 2025, ruling that the interim federal prosecutor who brought the charges was improperly appointed.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a Trump loyalist who previously served as the president's personal lawyer, is leading the Justice Department. Sources indicated that the pursuit of the new case against Comey comes as Blanche seeks to demonstrate to Trump that he is the right person to hold the position permanently.
The specific jurisdiction where the grand jury convened was not immediately clear, though sources indicated the case may have been handled in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The exact charges Comey faces remain subject to further legal proceedings.
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