James Comey Indicted a Second Time Over '86 47' Instagram Photo of Seashells

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury for the second time, this time on charges that an Instagram photo he posted last spring showing seashells arranged to read '86 47' constituted a criminal threat against President Donald Trump. The indictment, returned in the Eastern District of North Carolina, charges Comey with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce — felonies that together carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

Comey, 64, surrendered to U.S. marshals at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, and appeared briefly before a magistrate judge. He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance pending trial. 'I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid,' Comey told reporters as he left the courthouse, flanked by attorneys Patrick Fitzgerald and Michael Bromwich. The Justice Department's announcement of the indictment was made by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, a Trump appointee whose elevation to the post has itself become the subject of a court challenge.

The charges trace back to a since-deleted Instagram post Comey shared on May 15, 2025, while walking on a Hilton Head, South Carolina, beach. The photo showed seashells arranged on the sand to spell out '86 47.' Prosecutors allege the digits would be read by 'a reasonable recipient familiar with the circumstances' as code for eliminating the 47th president. Critics of the indictment, including former federal prosecutors across both parties, argue the post was at most an ill-considered piece of political commentary and falls well within First Amendment protection. Comey himself deleted the post within hours, writing, 'I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence — I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.'

This is the second time the Justice Department has charged Comey since Trump returned to office. In September 2025, prosecutors brought a separate indictment accusing him of lying to Congress about leaks to the press, but a federal judge dismissed that case late last year after finding that the interim U.S. attorney who signed the charging document had been improperly appointed in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Critics of the new indictment said the administration was forum-shopping by routing the case to the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the photo was allegedly taken; supporters in the administration argued that the venue followed standard practice.

The prosecution sets up another high-stakes confrontation between Trump and one of the FBI directors he fired during his first term. Trump's allies have publicly cheered the indictment, with several House Republicans posting clips of Comey's perp walk to social media. Comey's legal team is expected to file a motion to dismiss on First Amendment grounds within 30 days, and prosecutors face an uphill task convincing jurors that a beach photograph of seashells, even paired with a politically charged caption, satisfies the strict 'true threat' standard the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Counterman v. Colorado. A trial date has not been set.