Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted Over Instagram Seashell Photo Interpreted as Threat to President Trump

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:37:00 +0200

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on April 28, 2026, in the Eastern District of North Carolina on charges of making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The charges stem from an Instagram post he made in May of the previous year, which featured a photo of seashells arranged to spell out the numbers '86 47.' Prosecutors allege that a reasonable person familiar with the context would interpret this as a serious expression of intent to harm President Donald Trump, who is serving his second term as the 47th president. The slang term '86' often means to remove or get rid of something. Each charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years. An arrest warrant was issued following the indictment returned by a grand jury. Comey responded by posting a video on his Substack, stating he remains innocent, unafraid, and confident in the federal judiciary. He had previously deleted the post and explained that he viewed the shell format