Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for a second time, after a judge dismissed an earlier indictment back in November.
A federal grand jury in North Carolina charged Comey April 28 with threatening to harm or kill President Donald Trump in an Instagram post of seashells in May 2025. The indictment also accuses Comey of disregarding a substantial risk that his post would be viewed as threatening violence.
That post depicted an image of seashells reading "8647." Some Trump supporters interpreted the post as a threat, because "86" is a slang term that means "to throw out" or "to get rid of," according to Merriam-Webster, and Trump is the 47th U.S. president.
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Comey later deleted the post and said in a new one that he "didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence" and he took the post down because he opposes "violence of any kind."
"Well, they're back, 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 said in a video statement posted on his Substack April 28.
"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," Comey added.
Second case since Trump called for Comey to face charges
Comey was previously prosecuted by the Trump administration for allegedly lying to Congress, but the case was dismissed after a judge determined the prosecutor who brought it – a former personal lawyer to Trump with no previous prosecutorial experience – was unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department has appealed that ruling.
Both prosecutions have come after Trump specifically called for Comey to be criminally charged in September. Comey served as director of the FBI during the first Trump administration, before the president fired him in 2017. He has since been an outspoken critic of the president.
Patrick Fitzgerald, a lawyer for Comey and former DOJ official, said in a statement that his client "vigorously denies" the charges.
"We will contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment," Fitzgerald said.
At a press conference April 28, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that Comey's indictment isn't unique.
"Over the past year, this department has charged dozens of cases involving threats against all sorts of individuals. We take these seriously, every single one of them," Blanche said.
Charges spur free speech, DOJ weaponization concerns
However, Democrats and First Amendment advocates decried the charges as politically-motivated and a threat to free speech.
"'86' has many possible meanings, including impeachment. And it’s part of political discourse," Karl de Vries, a spokesperson at the the free-speech-focused Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said in a statement.
De Vries noted conservative commentator Jack Posobiec posted "86 46" on Twitter in 2022, referring to then-President Joe Biden. Posobiec "rightly faced no criminal charges," de Vries said.
"The idea that Comey's picture of seashells conveyed a serious intent to harm the president is ridiculous. The administration should abandon this transparent and unconstitutional attempt to punish a critic," de Vries said.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D–Illinois, alleged the Justice Department is seeking to appease the president with the new charges against Comey.
"Just like the last baseless indictment against Mr. Comey, this is another case of a weaponized Justice Department lashing out on behalf of a vengeful President," Durbin said in a statement.
Blanche became acting attorney general after Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had reportedly drawn the president's ire in part because she had little success in prosecuting Trump's political opponents and critics.
This story has been updated with additional information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted for second time
