James Comey faces ARREST warrant as Trump’s Justice Department ramps up seashell ‘assassination’ post case
Donald Trump’s Justice Department has indicted James Comey, accusing him of threatening the President’s life in an Instagram post, as a grand jury issues an arrest warrant for the ex-FBI boss.
The Justice Department says Comey ‘knowingly and willfully’ made threats against the President’s life and allegedly transmitted a threat via social media.
‘You cannot threaten to kill the President of the United States. Full stop,’ said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday at a press conference.
The indictment relates to an Instagram post Comey made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out ‘8647’, a phrase adopted by Trump’s critics that the President and his allies have characterized as a call for his assassination.
The arrest warrant was issued by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina. It is unclear whether the DOJ requested the warrant as part of the initial indictment.
The number 86 is slang for removing or getting rid of something, though it can also mean to kill. Trump is the 47th President. Comey posted the photo with the caption: ‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk.’
Trump’s allies claimed the post called for Trump’s assassination. Then-homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Secret Service would investigate the former FBI director.
Comey later deleted the post the same day, claiming he ‘didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.’
The Daily Mail has learned the new indictment relates to an Instagram post Comey made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out ‘8647’, a phrase adopted by Trump’s critics that the President and his allies have characterized as a call for his assassination
‘You cannot threaten to kill the President of the United States. Full stop,’ said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche
The number 86 is slang for removing or getting rid of something, though it can also mean to kill. Trump is the 47th President
Trump’s allies claimed the post called for Trump’s assassination. Then-homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Secret Service would investigate the former FBI director
Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey soon afterward. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the time said he should be ‘put behind bars for this’ and that she was ‘concerned’ Trump’s life was in danger.
Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia last fall on two counts: making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, related to his 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.
A federal judge dismissed the indictment in November, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed.
Blanche’s push to indict him comes a month after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, for failing to pursue his perceived enemies aggressively enough.
Trump accidentally posted a message on Truth Social in September pressuring Bondi to prosecute his political enemies, including Comey.
The President’s message to Bondi came just days before the initial Comey indictment.
The Justice Department initially dropped the seashells investigation into Comey under Bondi but it was revived in recent months, according to the New York Times.
Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal attorney before joining the administration, appears to have led efforts to revive the targeting of Trump’s political enemies.
Comey led the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, before the President fired him the following year
Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey a day after he made the post
He is widely considered a frontrunner to become the President’s official nominee for attorney general.
Comey led the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, before the President fired him the following year.
He remains one of Trump’s most vocal critics on network television.
Comey is not the only Trump adversary to face the wrath of the Justice Department in the last year.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted on bank fraud charges last October but a federal judge dismissed the case.
James led the civil fraud against Trump that resulted in a $454 million judgment against him in February 2024. However, the New York state appeals court later overturned the penalty.
The Daily Mail has contacted Comey for comment. His legal team has not issued a public statement on the indictment.
The indictment comes just days after alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen stormed the Washington Correspondents’ Dinner in what prosecutors say was a plot to assassinate the President and his top Cabinet members.
