Former FBI Director James Comey surrendered to law enforcement after he was indicted for a second time by the Department of Justice, this time for allegedly threatening President Donald Trump’s life.
Comey, 65, appeared in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday, April 29. He was charged with making a threat against Trump, 79, and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce after photographing seashells on a beach in North Carolina. Both counts carry a combined maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The shells in the image spelled out “86 47.” The Department of Justice argues the reference inferred that Comey wanted to “86,” or kill, the president. (86 is a slang term meaning to throw out, get rid of or eliminate something. Trump is currently serving as the 47th president of the United States.)
Comey captioned the controversial image, “cool shell formation on my beach walk.” He later deleted the image the same day and issued an apology.
“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” Comey said at the time. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News that “a child knows that meant.”
“If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination,” he continued at the time. “And it says it loud and clear.”
The former FBI director was not asked to make a plea on Wednesday. His lawyers’ told the judge they plan to file motions that would accuse the Justice Department of vindictively prosecuting their client.
Comey was allowed to leave court with no conditions of release following a brief hearing. A date has not been set for his arraignment.
Comey broke his silence shortly after he was indicted, saying that “nothing has changed” after he was previously indicted in 2025 for allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The case was ultimately thrown out after the U.S. attorney who brought the case was found to have been illegally appointed by the Trump administration.
“Nothing has changed with me,” Comey said in a video shared via his Substack page on Tuesday, April 28. “I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go.”
Comey and Trump have a lot of history. During Trump’s first presidential term, Comey was serving as director of the FBI. Under Comey’s leadership, the bureau was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump won. Comey testified in front of Congress that the FBI was looking into “any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
Trump has vehemently denied having any connection to Russia. Four months into his presidency, Trump fired Comey amid the FBI’s investigation.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office,” read a 2027 statement from the White House. “President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
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