NC Judge Conditionally Cancels Comey's Court Appearance

A federal judge in North Carolina on Thursday conditionally approved former FBI Director James Comey's request to cancel his scheduled initial court appearance on May 11, following his earlier surrender and arraignment in Virginia on charges of threatening President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan agreed to the cancellation if Comey's attorneys file a waiver by Friday. The Justice Department supported the motion, noting that Comey had already made an initial appearance last week in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, where he resides. Federal rules generally require only one such appearance, his lawyers argued.

Comey faces two felony counts in the Eastern District of North Carolina: knowingly and willfully threatening to kill or injure the president, and transmitting a threat across state lines. The charges stem from an Instagram post last May showing seashells arranged in the numbers 86 and 47 on a beach. Prosecutors allege the post constituted a threat against Trump, the nation's 47th president, as "86" is slang sometimes interpreted to mean "kill" or "get rid of."

Comey has stated that he found the shell formation during a beach walk and viewed it as a...