Former FBI Director James Comey Charged with Threatening President Trump's Life Over Instagram Post

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with threatening the life of US President Donald Trump, a formal accusation that stems from an image he briefly shared on social media. The image posted on Instagram last year showed seashells forming the numbers "86 47". "Eighty-six" is a slang term used to mean "eject" or "remove". Comey has insisted he did not know what the numbers on the image meant, but Trump and other administration officials have said the post was a threat against the 47th president. Responding to the charges, Comey said: "I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary." At a press conference to announce the indictment on Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel said that as the former director of the agency, Comey "knew full well the attention and consequences of making such a post". "James Comey disgracefully encouraged a threat on President Trump's life and posted it on Instagram for the world to see," said Kash Patel. Comey was fired by Trump during his first term, after the former FBI director led an investigation into Russian interference in the US 2016 presidential election. Since then, Trump has repeatedly called for his prosecution - Tuesday's charges are the administration's second attempt to do so. "Well, they're back. This time about a picture of sea shells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won't be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me," Comey said in a statement. Comey faces charges of making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to court documents. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. "Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation's laws," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "The grand jury returned an indictment alleging James Comey did just that." Comey deleted the Instagram post, saying in a follow-up that he "assumed [the sea shells] were a political message". "I didn't realise some folks associate those numbers with violence," he added. "It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down." Trump, who has long criticised Comey, said of the post that "a child knows what that meant". Comey's social media post will likely be viewed by courts as free speech that is protected by the first amendment, Gerhardt added. Jimmy Gurulé, a former federal prosecutor and former assistant US Attorney General who was appointed by President George W Bush, said the new indictment is "an embarrassment to the American criminal justice system". "The damage to the credibility, integrity and reputation of the US Department of Justice may be immeasurable," Gurulé, now a Notre Dame Law School professor, said in a statement to the BBC. "Every DOJ lawyer that played a role in returning this frivolous indictment should be ashamed." Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in late September on charges that he lied to Congress during testimony in September 2020 and obstructed a congressional proceeding.