Grand Jury Indicts Comey on Trump Threat Charges

A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted former FBI Director James Comey last week on two felony counts alleging he threatened to kill or inflict bodily harm on President Donald Trump and transmitted such a threat via interstate commerce. The charges center on an Instagram post Comey made in May 2025, featuring seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers "86 47," with the caption "Cool shell formation on my beach walk." Prosecutors described the post as a serious expression of intent to harm Trump, noting that "86" is slang for getting rid of or eliminating something and "47" refers to Trump as the 47th president.

Comey deleted the post the same day and stated he had not realized some associated the numbers with violence. "It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down," he said at the time. In a later video on Substack, Comey maintained his innocence, saying, "I'm still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the indictment in interviews on CBS News and NBC's "Meet the Press" over the weekend, emphasizing that the case stems from an 11-month...