Attorney General Todd Blanche forcefully defended the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday, pushing back on claims that federal prosecutors moved forward over a single social media post.
The core question put to Blanche was straightforward: how does a photo of seashells arranged to spell “8647” on a beach constitute a serious criminal threat against the president? Blanche’s answer was equally direct. It does not stand alone.
“What you just showed is one part of that investigation… the career Assistant United States Attorneys… the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents… didn’t just look at the Instagram post and walk away.”
Blanche declined to detail what else investigators uncovered but made clear the case rests on more than the image itself.
“Rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted.”
He also pointed to the timeline: The post was made last May, roughly a year before the indictment was handed down, suggesting an extended investigative process rather than a reactive prosecution.
The two-count indictment, filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey owns a beach house and where the photo was posted, alleges that a reasonable person would interpret the “86 47” shell arrangement as “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” The Secret Service had already questioned Comey over the post before charges were filed.
Comey deleted the original post and said at the time that he had no idea the numbers carried violent connotations. “Eighty-six” is commonly used in the restaurant industry to mean something is out of stock, and more broadly to mean “cancel” or “get rid of.” That explanation has been met with skepticism. Comey spent more than a decade as FBI Director and Deputy Attorney General, overseeing agencies that routinely assess threat language. Whether a jury finds it credible that a veteran law enforcement official was unaware of how “86 47” would be interpreted is likely to become a central issue at trial.
After the indictment, Comey said he was innocent and not afraid, adding that he still believed in the independent judiciary, casting himself as a victim of political persecution.
“They’re back… This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it.”
His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said the team would “contest these charges in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First Amendment.”
This is the second time the Trump administration has indicted Comey. The first case, centered on allegations he lied to Congress about authorizing media leaks related to an FBI investigation, was dismissed after a federal judge ruled that Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump personal attorney, had been unlawfully appointed as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, rendering her signature on the indictment invalid.
Blanche acknowledged at a separate news conference that he had not publicly offered direct evidence that Comey “knowingly and willfully” made a threat, which is a required element of the charges. He said prosecutors prove intent through witnesses, documents, and potentially by examining the defendant, but called it “very premature” to discuss specifics.
An arrest warrant was issued, and Comey turned himself in voluntarily.
The case now turns on whether that evidence can meet the higher bar required at trial: proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Comey knowingly and willfully made a threat.
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