Former FBI Director James Comey indicted again under Trump
WASHINGTON - Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for a second time since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, with prosecutors alleging that he threatened the president's life in a social media post.
A federal grand jury in North Carolina returned the indictment on Tuesday. It features two counts, accusing Comey of threatening the president and of transmitting a threat through interstate commerce. The prosecution centers on a photo last May that Comey posted online, in which the numbers 86 and 47 had been formed by seashells. Critics said that could have been a reference to killing Trump, the 47th president.
Comey deleted the post at the time and said that was not his intent. The case marks the latest instance of prosecutors during the Trump administration pursuing criminal investigations against the president's perceived political enemies.
"Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference in Washington. "His alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute."
The indictment alleges that "a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret" Comey's post of the photograph "as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump."
Both counts are felony offenses carrying sentences up to five years in prison.
A judge hasn't set a date yet for Comey's initial appearance in court. A grand jury arrest warrant has been issued for Comey, Blanche said. Blanche said he expects an arrangement will be worked out for Comey to surrender.
CNN earlier reported the indictment.
A federal judge previously dismissed an earlier, unrelated indictment against Comey for allegedly lying to Congress and obstruction related to testimony he gave in 2020. During Trump's first term, he fired Comey from heading the FBI, which was investigating foreign interference in the 2016 election.
Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 to 2017, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Comey also did not immediately respond. The Justice Department did not have an immediate comment.
‘Political message'
After facing criticism for the photo, Comey wrote in a later post that he taken the photo of the shells during a beach walk because he "assumed" they were "a political message."
"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," Comey wrote at the time.
Bloomberg News previously reported that the Secret Service opened an investigation soon after into whether there was any threat to Trump. The term "86" is typically used as slang to mean "to eject, dismiss, or remove" or "to reject, discontinue, or get rid of," according to Merriam-Webster.
The Justice Department's first indictment against Comey was tossed out in November after a federal judge concluded the interim U.S. attorney serving in the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed. The same judge also dismissed a criminal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James on the same grounds.
The government is in the midst of appealing those rulings before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Separately on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Maurene Comey, the daughter of James Comey, could proceed with a civil lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully fired from her position as a federal prosecutor because of the bad blood between her father and Trump.
After an unrelated incident over the weekend, a California man was charged with allegedly trying to kill Trump at a Washington gala dinner. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, made his first appearance in federal court on Monday. He is also being charged with gun offenses.
The case is United States v. Comey, 26-cr-16, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina.
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With assistance from Jimmy Jenkins.
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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 12:50 PM.