Former James Comey has been indicted for a second time by the US Department of Justice, according to sources cited by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. year that showed seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47”.
Get today's headlines by email 
The new charges reportedly relate to an image Comey briefly posted on Instagram last Officials in the administration of Donald Trump have argued the message amounted to a threat against the 47th US president.
Comey has denied any such intent, saying he did not initially recognise the possible meaning of the numbers.
Social media post at centre of case
The exact charges in the new indictment have not yet been made public. However, sources said the case focuses on the now-deleted Instagram photo.
After posting the image, Comey later removed it and explained his reasoning in a follow-up message. He said he had assumed the arrangement of seashells was a political statement but had not realised some people associated the phrase “86 47” with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote at the time, adding that he opposes violence and therefore took the post down.
In American slang, the term “eighty-six” can mean to remove or eject something. Critics of Comey’s post argued the phrase could be interpreted as a call to remove the 47th president.
Trump dismissed Comey’s explanation, saying the meaning was obvious. “A child knows what that meant,” the president said.
Earlier case dismissed by judge
The new indictment follows a previous case brought against Comey in September. In that earlier indictment, federal prosecutors accused him of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding during testimony in 2020 related to press leaks.
Comey pleaded not guilty when he appeared briefly in court the following month.
However, in November a federal judge dismissed the case. Cameron Currie ruled that the prosecutor who filed the charges had not been properly appointed, rendering the indictment invalid.
The charges had been brought by Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide who had not previously prosecuted a case. The judge said Halligan had not been authorised to present the case to a grand jury.
Although the court dismissed the indictment, the ruling left open the possibility that prosecutors could bring the case again.
Long-running tensions with Trump
Comey suggested after the ruling that further legal action from the administration was likely.
“I believe Trump will probably come after me again,” he said at the time.
The former FBI chief has had a strained relationship with Trump for years. Trump dismissed Comey during his first term in office while the FBI was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Since then, Comey has been a frequent critic of the president and has often been targeted by Trump in public statements.
Separately on Tuesday, another court decision involved Comey’s family. A judge ruled that Maurene Comey — the daughter of the former FBI director — may proceed with a lawsuit challenging her dismissal from a federal prosecutor role during the Trump administration.
The Justice Department has not yet commented publicly on the new indictment. The White House referred questions to the department, which is expected to address the matter during a scheduled briefing later on Tuesday.
Join the discussion? 
Already a member? 
Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 29 April 2026
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment