James Comey faces federal criminal charges for the second time since Donald Trump's return to the White House, this time over a photograph he posted on Instagram showing seashells arranged to spell out the number 8647.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment Tuesday in North Carolina, charging the former FBI director with one count of threatening the president and one count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to the indictment. Trump is the 47th president, and "86" is a term widely used in the restaurant industry to mean removing or discontinuing something.
Comey posted the image on May 15, 2025. Trump accused him at the time of "calling for the assassination of the president." Comey denied any threatening intent in a follow-up post, writing that he "didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence" and that he deleted the original because he opposes "violence of any kind."
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House referred questions to the DOJ.
The new indictment is the second Comey has faced since Trump took office in January 2025. Earlier, he was charged in Virginia with making a false statement to Congress and obstruction in a case brought under Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney for Trump who was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A federal judge dismissed that case in November after ruling that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed. New York Attorney General Letitia James faced a similar outcome: indicted on bank fraud charges, also dismissed after Halligan's appointment was invalidated.
The timing of Tuesday's indictment is notable. It came three days after Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Dinner following what authorities described as an assassination attempt, when an individual allegedly ran toward the ballroom where the event was being held. Trump's administration and allies have blamed Democratic rhetoric for inciting the incident.
Trump had publicly pushed for action against Comey in a September 2025 social media post, in which he urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to move against Comey, New York Attorney General James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., writing that "they're all guilty as hell." The DOJ examined Schiff on mortgage fraud allegations, but a federal prosecutor reportedly found insufficient evidence to charge him. Trump fired Bondi on April 2.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "86" as a verb meaning "to eject, dismiss, or remove someone," with roots in the restaurant and service industry. Comey's legal team has not issued a public statement in response to the latest indictment.
