James Comey indicted over Instagram seashell photo that allegedly threatened Trump

Source: The Verge

Indictment over Instagram seashell photo

The US Department of Justice has once again indicted James Comey — this time, for an alleged threat the former FBI director made toward President Donald Trump on Instagram, as reported earlier by CNN. In its indictment, filed in a North Carolina federal court on Tuesday, the DOJ cites the now‑deleted image Comey posted to Instagram last May, which showed a seashell arrangement making up the numbers “8647.” The full indictment is available on DocumentCloud.

The DOJ claims “a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm.” The phrase “eighty‑six” can be used as slang that means to “get rid of” or “throw out,” according to Merriam‑Webster, while Trump is the 47th president of the US. The caption on Comey’s post said “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

During a press conference on Tuesday (video), Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed that Comey “knowingly and willfully made a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm” on Trump. The DOJ is charging Comey with threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey said after taking the post down on May 15th. “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.”
— The Guardian

Previous indictment

Comey was previously indicted in September 2025 for allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding (CNN). A judge later dismissed that case (NBC News).