A360
Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
01
James Comey was indicted on two felony counts related to a social media post that allegedly threatened Donald Trump, marking the second DOJ attempt at prosecution.
02
The case hinges on whether a photo of seashells forming the numbers '86' and '47' constitutes a credible threat against a former president under federal law.
03
This prosecution follows a previously dismissed case against Comey, which was thrown out due to the improper appointment of the prosecutor handling it.
Atlas AI
Second Prosecution Effort Targets Ex-FBI Chief
The James Comey indictment brings new charges against the ex-FBI head over an alleged social media threat, marking the DOJ's second attempt at prosecution.
Comey, a former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made his initial appearance in a Virginia federal court on Wednesday following the unsealing of the charges. The government did not seek his detention, and he was subsequently released pending a future hearing where he will enter a plea.
The Alleged Social Media Threat
A federal grand jury in North Carolina returned the two-count felony indictment on Tuesday. The charges accuse Comey of threatening the president and transmitting that threat via interstate commerce, each carrying a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
The prosecution is centered on a social media post made by Comey last May. The post included a photograph of seashells arranged to form the numbers 86 and 47.
Critics interpreted the numbers as a coded threat. The term "86" is sometimes used as slang for getting rid of or killing someone, while "47" was seen as a reference to Donald Trump, who could become the 47th U.S. president. Comey later deleted the post and stated that this interpretation was not his intent.
Previous Indictment Dismissed
This latest legal action represents the Justice Department's second recent effort to prosecute Comey. A previous indictment from 2023, which included charges of lying to Congress and obstruction related to 2020 testimony, was dismissed.
A federal judge threw out that earlier case after determining that the interim U.S. attorney who secured the indictment, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed to her position in Virginia. The same judge also dismissed a separate criminal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James on identical grounds, citing procedural failures in the prosecutor's appointment.
The current charges originate from a different jurisdiction, North Carolina, and focus entirely on the social media incident rather than prior congressional testimony. These renewed charges escalate a long-standing and public feud between Comey and Trump, which dates back to Trump's first term in office when he fired Comey as FBI director in 2017. At the time of his dismissal, Comey was overseeing the investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election. The case will now proceed through the federal court system, beginning with Comey's formal plea.
