DOJ Indicts Former FBI Director James Comey A Second Time | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department introduced legal expenses towards James Comey on Tuesday for a second time, accusing the previous FBI director of threatening President Donald Trump by posting a photograph of seashells organized to point out the numbers “86 47.”

The expenses, introduced within the federal court docket within the Eastern District of North Carolina, accuse Comey of threatening the lifetime of the U.S. president and transmitting a menace throughout state traces.

The case pertains to an Instagram put up Comey printed final May whereas vacationing in North Carolina displaying the association of shells on a seaside. In U.S. parlance, the quantity 86 can be utilized as a verb which means to throw any individual out of a bar, whereas 47 could possibly be seen as code for Trump, the forty seventh president.

The indictment marks a renewed push by Trump’s Justice Department to focus on perceived political enemies of the president with legal prosecution. Trump final yr referred to Comey by title in a social media put up calling for legal expenses towards his adversaries.

“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid,” Comey mentioned in a video posted on-line after the indictment, including: “This is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be.”

Comey deleted the May 2025 Instagram message after it attracted controversy.

“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 mentioned shortly after posting it.

Trump and his allies on the time mentioned they interpreted Comey’s put up as a menace to violently take away Trump from energy.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has moved rapidly to hold out Trump’s calls for for legal instances after his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was ousted partly for not shifting quick sufficient on them.

Blanche on Tuesday depicted the case as a routine prosecution for a menace towards a public official, the kind of case federal prosecutors steadily convey.

“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,” Blanche mentioned throughout a information convention.

U.S. officers investigated Comey within the days following the put up and he was interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service, however was not charged.

Since Blanche took excessive put up in April, the Justice Department has introduced legal expenses towards the Southern Poverty Law Center, launched a report alleging misconduct in prior prosecutions of anti-abortion activists, and indicted a former National Institutes of Health official for allegedly concealing data associated to COVID-19 pandemic analysis.

Trump has for years railed towards Comey over his position overseeing an FBI investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s first presidential marketing campaign and Russian officers in 2016. The Justice Department introduced a separate case towards Comey final September accusing him of mendacity in congressional testimony about authorizing disclosures to the information media about FBI investigations.

A federal decide dismissed the case after discovering that the prosecutor who secured the indictment was not lawfully appointed. The Justice Department is interesting the ruling.

That case was introduced after Trump issued a name on social media for Bondi to hunt legal expenses towards Comey and different Trump adversaries. The Justice Department for many years sought to protect distance between the White House and particular person legal investigations.

The first case towards Comey encountered a number of authorized obstacles. A federal decide discovered that the lead prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, might have made severe authorized errors earlier than the grand jury that permitted the indictment. Another decide later blocked the Justice Department from utilizing essential proof, discovering that prosecutors had violated protections towards illegal searches and seizures within the U.S. Constitution.

Comey’s legal professionals mentioned the case was a vindictive prosecution dropped at punish Comey for his criticism of Trump, which the protection might revive within the newest case.

The case can also be prone to be challenged on free speech grounds. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution consists of sturdy protections for political statements, even those who use intimidating language or advocate violence.

The Constitution doesn’t, nonetheless, shield direct threats to an individual’s life or security, authorized students say.

“We will contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment,” Comey lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald mentioned in a press release.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not clearly outlined a “true threat,” students say, making it tough for police and prosecutors to know the place to attract the road. Law enforcement officers typically search for language or context that displays a transparent intent to behave or instill concern, quite than merely suggesting a daunting end result.

The First Amendment has at instances posed obstacles for the Justice Department in investigating individuals who direct explicitly intimidating and violent language at public officers.