Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted Again Over 2025 Instagram Seashell Post

A grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina filed a two-count indictment on April 28 2026 charging James B. Comey Jr. with knowingly threatening President Donald J. Trump and transmitting that threat in interstate commerce. Each count carries up to ten years in prison.

Former FBI Director James Comey is expected to self-surrender to authorities

Comey’s first indictment in September 2025 for false statements and obstruction was dismissed in November 2025 due to an improperly appointed prosecutor. Trump fired Comey in May 2017 and has repeatedly called the seashell image a call for his assassination. The slang “86” can mean “to discard” and has a recent sense of “to kill”; “47” references Trump as the 47th president.

The HillNPRWRALAl Jazeera (website)James Comey indicted again, this time over seashell Instagram postCNNNew York Post

• May 15 2025 – Comey posted, then deleted, an Instagram photo of seashells spelling “86 47” and said he opposed violence.

CNN

• May 15 2025 (evening) – Secret Service conducted phone and in-person interviews.

WRAL

• May 2025 – Trump and officials labeled the post a threat.

Vox

• September 2025 – First indictment dismissed.

The Free Press

• April 28 2026 – Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the new indictment.

Comey’s second indictment shows the lengths Blanche will go to please Trump

James B. Comey Jr. (defendant); President Donald J. Trump (target); Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (prosecutor); Secret Service agents (interviewers); Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Ted Lieu (congressional critics).

PBS News Hour

The indictment cites 18 U.S.C. § 871 (threats against the president) and 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) (interstate threats). Two felony counts are listed.

Fox News (website)

Todd Blanche said, “Threatening the life of the President of the United States will never be tolerated.” President Trump told Fox News in May 2025, “He knew exactly what that meant… a child knows what that meant… assassination.” Comey’s Substack video asserted, “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”

New York Post

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called the indictment “surreal and absurd” and a political vendetta. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called the charges “ridiculous” and warned they would likely fail on First Amendment grounds.

The Hill

Some sources list only the threat and interstate-commerce counts; others reference the earlier false-statement/obstruction charges, which belong to the dismissed 2025 case. Definitions of “86” differ, with the primary meaning “to discard” and a newer sense “to kill.” The “reasonable recipient” standard is contested, and no public evidence of Comey’s subjective intent has been disclosed.

Former FBI Director James Comey is expected to self-surrender to authorities

• “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear,” — Donald J. Trump, Fox News interview, May 2025

The Hill

• “Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice,” — Todd Blanche, press conference, April 28 2026

The Hill

• “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” — James B. Comey Jr., Instagram caption, May 2025

Associated Press

• “I mean, the charges here are just surreal and absurd,” — Jamie Raskin, interview, April 28 2026

The Hill