WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Justice Department filed new criminal charges against former FBI director James Comey on April 28, 2026, in connection with a social media post from the previous year. The charges relate to an Instagram post in which seashells were arranged to spell "86 47," which was taken as a threat to President Donald Trump, who is the 47th president. The number 86 can be used as shorthand for getting rid of something.

Comey posted the photograph in May 2025, after Trump's return to the White House, and later deleted it. He said at the time that he was unaware the phrase had violent associations when he removed the image. The Secret Service interrogated him over the post, and weeks later surveillance teams tracked his car and phone.

In September 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Comey for making a false statement and obstructing a congressional proceeding related to his 2020 testimony. Following that indictment, he said, "We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either."

Sen. Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in September 2025 that the indictment was the latest sign that the president was making good on his promise to turn the justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics.

In November 2025, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia invalidated the criminal indictments against Comey and Letitia James. Judge Cameron Currie said that interim U.S. attorney Lindsay Halligan had no lawful authority to indict. The statute of limitations on charges related to Comey's congressional testimony subsequently expired.

The April 28, 2026 filing centers on the seashell post rather than the 2020 congressional testimony that formed the basis of the earlier, invalidated indictment. The new charges mark the Justice Department's second attempt to bring a criminal case against the former FBI director.