The Justice Department last month indicted former FBI Director James Comey a second time over a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells that the administration has described as a threat against President Donald Trump. Comey has said the prosecutions are an attempt to silence his criticism of the president.

The seashells in the photo were arranged to spell out "8647." The term "86" is widely considered to be restaurant speak for being out of something, and the number 47 is a reference to Trump as the 47th president. Comey has said the arrangement was not a threat.

The new indictment followed a November ruling in which a judge dismissed earlier indictments of Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, determining that the federal prosecutor had been unconstitutionally appointed. The Justice Department is appealing that dismissal.

Comey had been indicted on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation, and pleaded not guilty. James was indicted on charges of bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution, and also pleaded not guilty.

Justice Department officials also sought to indict six members of Congress, including Senator Mark Kelly, after they encouraged service members to ignore illegal orders. A grand jury refused to indict them. The department additionally sought to prosecute Senator Adam Schiff and former CIA Director John Brennan.

Comey said the department cannot fulfill its role to uphold the rule of law while it focuses on critics of the president, and that it must act as a guardian of decisions made without regard to race, wealth, or politics. "I think it's really important for the Department of Justice to be just and to make decisions just based on facts and law," he said.

"The department cannot target people like Adam Schiff or Letitia James or Senator Kelly because the president doesn't like what they say," he said. "It just can't be that way and still have it uphold the rule of law in this country."

He said the continued efforts to prosecute him were designed to silence criticism and warn others. "It's one, he wants to try and silence my criticism, and two, he wants to send a message to others who might consider speaking, that this is what will happen if you speak out," he said. "I don't wake up in the middle of the night thinking about him, but he does thinking about me."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said there is a body of evidence against Comey that goes beyond the Instagram post but that he is not permitted to share it at this point. Blanche did not specify what that evidence includes.