The Justice Department on Tuesday indicted former FBI Director James Comey for a second time in the span of months, this time over a post he made on Instagram last summer that was widely perceived to have threatening connotations against President Donald Trump.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced from the podium at the Justice Department that a federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted Comey over a since-deleted Instagram post in which he took a picture of seashells in the sand that spelled “86 47,” with the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The grand jury also ordered an arrest warrant for Comey.
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“Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation’s laws,” said Blanche, noting the case had been under investigation for about one year. “The grand jury returned an indictment alleging James Comey did just that, at a time when this country has witnessed violent incitement followed by deadly actions against President Trump and other elected officials.”
Charges include alleged violations of 18 U.S.C. § 871(a), threat to kill a president, and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, governed under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), according to the charging document. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.
It was not immediately clear when or if Comey would be arrested or allowed to turn himself in, although Blanche signaled he would be permitted to do so. His case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, a George W. Bush appointee, and his first appearance in court could come as early as Wednesday.
Allies of the president and other critics of Comey saw the arrangement of shells in the sand as a call to “nix” or “get rid” of Trump; the slogan “86 47” has become popular on the Left. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service promptly started an investigation and even visited Comey’s residence during the fallout from his online post.
Comey previously said he was unaware that the message in the post could be associated with violence, saying, “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
Trump responded during a Fox News interview that Comey “knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear,” Trump said. “That meant assassination.”
The indictment comes just one day after the DOJ charged Cole Allen with attempting to assassinate the president over the weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where he allegedly plotted to kill administration officials “from highest-ranking to lowest.”
Blanche addressed members of the media on Monday when asked why he believed there had been a rash of political violence in recent years, noting two prior attempts on Trump, along with acts of violence against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a National Guard member killed in Washington, D.C., and others.
“When you have reporters, when you have the media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, without proof, it shouldn’t surprise us that this type of rhetoric takes place,” Blanche said, referring to increasingly aggressive rhetoric on the Left and in the media that frequently likens Trump and his team to murderous dictators.
“The temperature needs to be turned down, and anyone who dials it up and threatens the life of the President will be held accountable,” Blanche said on Tuesday.
Trump previously pushed former Attorney General Pam Bondi to move quickly to indict Comey, who has been accused of playing a key role in Democrat-backed efforts to use the justice system for partisan advantage during Trump’s first term in office and after.
Comey was indicted in September 2025 on charges of lying to Congress over leaks to the press. The case was dismissed last year by a federal judge who found that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was leading the case, was unlawfully appointed because she was not confirmed by the Senate and had exceeded the allotted number of days in the job.
Critics of Comey have argued that several aspects of his time in government warrant criminal investigation, including the misuse of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants during the FBI’s 2016 election investigation of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Blanche declined to discuss any other investigations into Comey, who is also reportedly one of the subjects of a grand jury investigation taking place in South Florida.
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Comey’s criminal case involving the Instagram post could be more difficult to secure a conviction on, if not for the 2023 Supreme Court precedent that elevated the standard for proving a statement or action made is a “true threat.”
An attorney for the former FBI director was not immediately available.
