Former FBI director James Comey has been indicted over an Instagram photo of seashells that officials say threatened the life of US President Donald Trump.
In the now-deleted Instagram post, the 65-year-old outspoken Trump critic – who was first indicted last year – shared a photo of seashells on a beach in May 2025 arranged to form the numbers “86 47”.
At the time, Mr Trump alleged “86” was slang for kill, and “47” was a reference to him being the 47th president. Mr Comey has insisted he did not know the numbers were associated with violence.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, US time, US Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said Mr Comey was indicted on two counts including “knowingly and wilfully making a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States” and “knowingly and wilfully transmitting an interstate commerce of communication that contained a threat to kill the President of the United States”.
Both counts carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Comey.
“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,” Mr Todd said.
The Acting Attorney-General, who previously served as Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, said the case has bee investigated over the past “11 months or so” and remains ongoing.
“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.”
Comey responds to indictment
The ex-FBI boss responded to the indictment in a short video on Substack on Tuesday, insisting he is innocent and “not afraid”.
“Well, they’re back,” Mr Comey said in the video.
“This time, about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me.”
“I am still innocent. I am still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary – so, let’s go.
“But it’s 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. Keep the faith.”
‘Never occurred to me’
After sharing the picture on Instagram, Mr Comey wrote in a follow up post that he shared “a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message”.
“I didn’t realise 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.”
However, Mr Trump alleged in an interview with Fox News that Mr Comey “knew exactly what that meant”.
“That meant assassination, and it says it loud and clear.”
Mr Comey was hit with two federal charges in September for making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
The case was thrown out by a federal judge in November after finding the US lawyer hand-picked by Mr Trump, who brought the charges, was unlawfully appointed.
