Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for a second time by the Trump administration over a 2025 Instagram post, just months after a judge tossed his first indictment.
Comey’s new indictment is over a photo of seashells he posted online last May that officials said threatened President Donald Trump. The post showed shells writing out the numbers “86 47”; in slang, 86 can refer to getting rid of or removing, and 47 could refer to Trump being the 47th president.
Comey captioned the post “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” but critics said he was referring to taking out or killing Trump. The second indictment was first reported by CNN.
The indictment comes just days after a shooter was apprehended at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, looking to kill Trump administration officials, according to authorities. The second indictment is another attempt for the administration to prosecute one of the president’s biggest political enemies after ousting Comey from the FBI in 2017.
Last May, Comey received sharp backlash from Republican officials, including former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said it should be investigated. Secret Service interviewed Comey, a notable step for the agency for a nonspecific threat, CNN noted.
Comey removed the post and said he assumed it represented a political message but didn’t realize it was associated with violence.
“It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey said in a new message.
According to the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Comey is facing two counts for allegedly threatening Trump. The filing said Comey “knowingly and willfully” made a threat to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the president in his “publicly posted” photograph. The government argues that a “reasonable recipient who is familiar” with what 86 47 means, it would be interpreted as a “serious expression of an intent to do harm” to the president.
The most recent case against Comey is likely not going to be successful, given the country’s expansive free speech protections. Still, it is the latest action from the administration and Justice Department to convict Comey.
In November, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was wrongfully appointed to her position by the Justice Department.
Comey asked the judge to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the administration can’t bring the case again. The judge did not dismiss it with prejudice, but it was unclear how the administration would continue that prosecution.
The former FBI director was under investigation and indicted the first time in September, shortly before the statute of limitations of alleged charges against him were set to expire.
Comey was being investigated over whether he made false statements during a congressional testimony in September 2020 about his investigation into Russian tampering in the 2016 presidential election, in which Trump first took office after winning.
Comey was appointed by former President Barack Obama to head the FBI in 2013 and dismissed by Trump in May 2017. Since then, he’s maintained his innocence that he did not lie under oath.
The former FBI director has yet to comment on the indictment and shared his latest post on Instagram on Monday with his grandchild.
The effort against Comey may have been resurfaced after Attorney General Pam Bondi was ousted from her position and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche takes the lead at the Justice Department. Bondi was urged by the president to take initial action against Comey and James in September.