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Comey is charged with "knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of, or inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States and knowingly and willfully transmitting a communication in interstate and foreign commerce that contained a threat to kill President Donald Trump," according to the indictment.
Both charges, released Tuesday by the DOJ, carry up to 10 years in prison. This follows a predictable wave of Republican criticism and Trump administration officials pointing out that a former FBI boss posting what sure looked like a coded hit on the president might be, you know, a problem.
"I think it's fair to say that threatening the life of anybody is dangerous and potentially a crime threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice," Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters during a news conference without going into specifics of the case.
"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," he added.
In the slang often used in the service industry, to "86" something means to eject, cancel or get rid of it, kind of the similar expression: to 'deep 6' something. And Trump is the 47th president. A reasonable person familiar with the circumstances would interpret this image as a "serious expression of an intent to do harm" to the president, per the charges.
The indictment also includes a Forfeiture Notice. If convicted, Comey must forfeit any property or proceeds derived from his alleged unlawful activities to the government.
A grand jury issued an arrest warrant for Comey. Blanche said he expects communication with Comey's legal counsel.
U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan, a George W. Bush appointee, has been assigned to the case.
"Well, they're back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago," Comey said in the 39-second clip. "But nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent. I am still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let's go."
Comey added that it was "really important that all of us remember this is not who we are as a country."
"This is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be. And the good news is we get closer every day to restoring those values," he added.
In a statement to Fox News, Comey's lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, said, "Mr. Comey vigorously denies the charges contained in the Indictment filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina. We will contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment."
Comey removed the social media post of the shells the same day it was uploaded, claiming he had misinterpreted the shells as a general political message.
"I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message," Comey wrote in a subsequent post. "I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down."
Following the post, Comey was questioned by the U.S. Secret Service in Washington D.C. At the time, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the former FBI chief should be "put behind bars" for allegedly "issuing a call to assassinate" Trump.
In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump rejected this explanation.
"He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant," Trump said. "If you're the FBI director, and you don't know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination,’ and it says it loud and clear."
House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin criticized the move by the DOJ, while recalling Trump's own remarks about Democratic lawmakers who urged military service members to disobey unlawful orders and his statement about former Rep. Liz Cheney.
"Trump's DOJ just criminally indicted James Comey for a beach photo of seashells and no other evidence cited," he said. "If that’s a crime in America, then what is calling the free speech of six Democratic Members of Congress ‘seditious behavior, punishable by DEATH’? What is suggesting a former Republican Member of Congress should have to ‘face nine barrels shooting at her’ with ‘the guns trained on her face’?"
This second indictment against Comey comes just hours after a federal judge in New York allowed a separate lawsuit brought by his daughter, Maurene Comey, to move forward against the DOJ.
Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor, is suing the DOJ over what she describes as an unlawful dismissal. Her lawsuit alleges she was terminated "solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both."
Comey was fired by Trump in 2017 during his first term over the handling of the Russia investigation. Since then, Comey has been a vocal critic of the president.
In September 2025, Comey was charged with lying to Congress regarding press leaks. However, a federal judge dismissed that case after ruling that the prosecutor involved had been improperly appointed. Comey’s legal team has declined to comment on this latest indictment.Earlier this month, Blanche said Trump has a "right" and a "duty" to influence federal investigations, including those involving his political enemies who probed him in the past.
"We have thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now. It is true that some of them involve men, women and entities that the president in the past has had issues with and believes should be investigated," Blanche said at a press conference.He previously dismissed the notion that the DOJ has improperly been going after Trump opponents.
On April 14, the DOJ's Weaponization Working Group published a report accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing federal law.
Poor Jim. The seashells were just innocent little shells, you guys. Nothing to see here except a guy who ran the FBI deciding to play amateur assassination semaphore on Instagram. The left is already melting down, because of course they are. This is going to be fun.
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