James Comey Responds to Indictment Over Seashell Photo: ‘I’m Still Not Afraid’

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury over an Instagram photo of seashells Comey said he stumbled upon while walking along the beach.

The shells were arranged in a pattern forming “86 47”, which the indictment alleges any reasonable person “who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” 86 generally means to get “get rid of,” and some see 47 as a reference to Trump, who is the 47th (and 45th) president.

The grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey has a beach house and where he posted the photo, indicted him on two counts: threatening to kill or injure President Donald Trump and transmitting the threat in interstate commerce, via Instagram.

Comey has long been a target of Trump, and the Department of Homeland Security previously investigated the former FBI director over the May social media post. At the time, Comey said he didn’t realize some people associate the numbers with violence and that he assumed the shells were a “political message,” not a violent one. He said he opposes violence of any kind and took the post down.

Comey responded to the indictment in a Substack video and maintained his innocence. “Well, they’re back 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’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So, let’s go,” Comey said. “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.”

Comey has long been a vocal critic of Trump and led the FBI during the presidents first term. He was fired by Trump in 2017 amid an investigation headed by Comey into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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When speaking at a press conference, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges took “a lot of work by law enforcement.” When asked how Blanche would prove intent when Comey said he didn’t associate “86” with doing harm, took down the post promptly, and said he did not intend to harm the president, the AG replied, “How do you prove intent in any case? With witnesses, with documents, with the defendants himself … and that’s how we’ll prove intent in this case.”