Details surrounding the latest indictment of James Comey are now coming into focus after federal prosecutors unsealed charges tied to a controversial social media post.
According to the New York Post, the former FBI director was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on allegations that he threatened President Donald Trump in a May 2025 Instagram post featuring the numbers “86 47.”
The Department of Justice said the charges include one count of “knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States,” along with a second count of “knowingly and willfully transmitting an interstate commerce communication that contained a threat to kill the president of the United States.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the indictment, emphasizing the seriousness of the allegations.
“Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice,” Blanche said.
The case centers on a now-deleted Instagram post Comey shared on May 15, 2025, which showed seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers “86 47.”
Prosecutors argue the message constituted a threat, while Comey has strongly rejected that interpretation.
In a later interview with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, Comey described the post as harmless.
He said it was a “totally innocent” message and called it “crazy” that others interpreted it as a call for violence against the 47th president.
The number “86” is widely known as slang in the restaurant industry, typically meaning to remove or get rid of something. Still, authorities contend the context gave the post a far more serious implication.
Blanche noted that the Justice Department has pursued similar cases in the past.
“There are multiple threats cases very similar to this one, including one where the defendant pled guilty recently to threatening former President Biden,” he said.
“I say that to say that while this case is unique and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute.”
Comey issued a defiant response after the charges were revealed.
“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” he said in a video statement.
The indictment was filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, marking the second time Comey has faced federal charges in recent months.
His earlier case, which accused him of making false statements and obstruction of justice, was dismissed after a judge ruled that the prosecutor involved lacked proper authority to bring the charges.
