James Comey, the former director of the FBI, has been hit with a two-count federal indictment stemming from a controversial social media post directed at the President.
The charges, announced Tuesday by Justice Department officials, follow a year-long investigation into a now-deleted Instagram photo that critics and prosecutors say crossed the line from political speech into a criminal threat.
The indictment, handed down by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina, focuses on a May 15, 2025, post featuring the numbers “8647.” In the context of the charges, federal prosecutors allege the post was a coded call to “86”—slang for getting rid of or killing—the 47th President, Donald Trump.
The two felony counts against Comey include:
- Threatening the President: Knowingly and willfully making a threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States (18 U.S.C. 871).
- Interstate Communication of a Threat: Knowingly transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kill the President (18 U.S.C. 875c).
“Threatening the life of the President of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche during a press briefing. “While this case is unique 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 regularly prosecute.”
Following the initial backlash a year ago, Comey deleted the post and issued an apology, claiming he was unaware that “86” carried such a violent connotation and maintained it was a form of political expression. However, FBI Director Kash Patel noted that the grand jury was presented with all relevant information, including the deletion and the apology, before deciding to move forward with the charges.
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When asked how the government plans to prove criminal intent given Comey’s public apology, Blanche stated that the case is built on a “tremendous amount of investigation” involving witnesses and documents. He noted that the delay in bringing charges—nearly a year after the post—was due to the complexity of the case, including reviewing potentially privileged materials from the former FBI head.
“James Comey will be afforded every matter of due process under the United States Constitution,” Patel added. “Our investigators work methodically. They call the balls and strikes in the field as they see fit pursuant to the facts of the case and the law.”
A warrant has been issued following the grand jury’s indictment. While officials did not confirm if Comey had been taken into custody yet, they indicated that communication with his legal team is ongoing. The case is expected to proceed to an arraignment in North Carolina, where Comey will face a jury of his peers.
This marks the second time the DOJ has pursued an indictment against Comey, following a previous case in Virginia that was dismissed on procedural grounds. Justice Department officials declined to comment on whether further charges related to other investigations are forthcoming.
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