A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned a two-count indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, 65, on April 28, 2026, charging him with threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce [1]. The charges stem from a May 2025 Instagram post in which Comey displayed seashells arranged to read "86 47," a combination the Justice Department alleges constituted a threat against President Trump, the 47th president [2]. Comey surrendered to federal authorities following the indictment [1].
The two counts arise under 18 U.S.C. § 871, which criminalizes threats against the president, and 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which prohibits transmitting threats in interstate commerce [1]. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison [2]. The indictment marks the second time the current Justice Department has brought federal charges against Comey, whose earlier confrontations with the Trump administration date to his 2017 firing as FBI director [3]. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel oversee the agencies driving the prosecution [2]. Ellis Boyle, identified as a lead defense attorney, has signaled plans to file motions to dismiss on First Amendment grounds, arguing the post constituted protected political speech [2][3].
The case presents a direct test of where courts draw the line between protected expression and a prosecutable threat under the "true threat" doctrine established in Supreme Court precedent, most recently refined in Counterman v. Colorado (2023) [3]. Comey and his legal team are expected to argue that the seashell arrangement was an ambiguous political statement, not a statement communicating serious intent to harm. The government is expected to argue that context, including Comey's public profile and prior statements about the president, transforms the post into an actionable threat [2]. The prosecution proceeds in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the grand jury was seated [1].
Briefing schedules on pretrial motions have not yet been set publicly. The First Amendment dismissal motion will likely frame the threshold legal issue and could produce an early appellate question if the district court rules against the defense. Given Comey's national prominence and the novelty of applying presidential-threat statutes to a social media post by a former law enforcement official, the case is a candidate for close appellate scrutiny regardless of the trial outcome [3].
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