Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for a 2025 Instagram post about Trump.
The Department of Justice secured an indictment on Tuesday and charged the former director with threatening Trump’s life by posting a picture of seashells on his Instagram account.
The DOJ is claiming that the image of the seashells, arranged to spell out “86 47” is a “serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” The indictment was secured through the Eastern District of North Carolina where Comey took the photo.
The Department of Homeland Security had been investigating Comey over the nearly year-old social media post and even had the Secret Service question him. The post has since been deleted.
At the time, Comey said he saw the seashells on the beach and thought they were a political statement and not a suggestion of violence.
The embattled lawyer and law enforcement leader put out a video noting that he is not afraid and believes in the independent judiciary.
“They’re back,” he said. “This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it.”
Comey’s attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement that his client denies the charges in the indictment.
“We will contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment,” Fitzgerald added.
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general since Pam Bondi’s firing, has not offered evidence of intent, a main component of the charges. Speaking to NBC News, Blanch said there was a lot of investigation and that the DOJ generally proves intent with witnesses and documents.
“I am not going to talk about the evidence that we have. That’s unfair to him. It’s unfair to the prosecutors,” said Blanche.
This is the Trump administration’s second time indicting Comey. In September, the administration indicted him on charges of obstruction and offering false statements. A judge dismissed the charges in November due to an illegally-installed prosecutor.
