Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for a second time by the Justice Department, multiple sources told Fox News. The charges appear to be related to a May 2025 Instagram photo of an "86 47" shell formation on a beach.
He 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.
The move follows a wave of criticism from Republicans and Trump administration officials who viewed the post as a veiled threat.
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In the slang often used in the service industry, to "86" something means to eject, cancel or get rid of it. Donald Trump is the 47th president of the United States. According to the charges, a reasonable person familiar with the circumstances would interpret this image as a "serious expression of an intent to do harm" to the president.
The indictment aldo includes a Forfeiture Notice, meaning that if convicted, Comey must forfeit any property or proceeds derived from his alleged unlawful activities to the government.
It was unclear if Comey would be arrested or if he would be allowed to self-surrender. However, one of the court documents is described as a "Warrant issued."
Comey removed the social media post 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."
In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, President Donald 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."
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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 Justice Department.
Maurene Comey, a former federal prosecutor, is suing the Justice Department 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."
James Comey was fired by Donald 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, James 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, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd 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.
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"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 Justice Department 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.
Source: Fox News - Politics
