TRUMP ADMINISTRATION INDICTS JAMES COMEY OVER ALLEGED ONLINE SEASHELL PHOTO THREAT

Donald Trump’s retribution tour continues. The Justice Department announced that it will be prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey for a photo of seashells that it claims threatened Trump.

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Tuesday over a photo of seashells officials said threatened President Donald Trump, marking the administration’s second attempt to prosecute one of his biggest political opponents, three sources first told CNN.

The charges, approved by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina where Comey allegedly took the photo, include making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to court documents.

Comey responded to the indictment Tuesday in a video posted to his Substack account.

“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid,” Comey said. “And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.”

The new case represents a reinvigorated effort to satisfy Trump’s demands to investigate his own foes, including Comey, who he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to “weaponize” the justice system against him.

It also comes less than a month after the president dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump had for weeks complained that Bondi was not aggressive enough in executing his agenda.

Todd Blanche, Bondi’s top deputy and a former Trump personal attorney, is now in charge of steering the department, and has moved quickly to act on matters that the president has publicly pushed for.

“While this case is unique, and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate” Blanche said at a press conference Tuesday.

Tuesday’s indictment is centered on a picture Comey posted on social media last May, of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47.” He wrote in the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

Almost immediately following his post, Republicans and administration officials went full bore in their criticism of Comey for what they said amounted to a death threat.

When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out. Trump is currently the 47th president.

Most legal experts and social media commentators say the case is unlikely to go anywhere.

The Popehat Reports’ Ken White calls the case a grave embarrassment and to the United States Department of Justice and the rule of law. Some excerpts from his must-read-in-full post:

No minimally rationally person could possibly conclude, seeing James Comey’s beachside dad joke, that he was expressing a sincere intent to harm the President. Nobody could look at it and conclude that Comey intended to convey that message. In evaluating whether a threat is “true,” the trier of fact must consider the context. Here the context is seashells. The context is the former Director of the FBI, a lifetime member of law enforcement, who is a well-known critic of the President and a target of the President’s wrath, using a campy mechanism to express opposition to the President, using slang for “ditch” or “eject” or “get rid of.” No rational person could see that and say “the former director of the FBI is saying he’s going to kill the President”!”

I could now cite to you a legion of cases for that proposition, finding rhetoric far more concerning than this protected by the First Amendment, analyzing language and context to show this is protected. But it wouldn’t matter, would it? If you are a minimally rational person, you don’t need to see the precedent, and if you’re a cultist, no amount of precedent matters to you.

As a lawyer commenting on the Trump administration’s legal arguments, I face a challenge: how do I convey to non-lawyers, or even lawyers in different fields, the shameless fatuity of some of the Trump Justice Department’s arguments? Words fail. This case is overtly, obviously, on its face, ridiculous and premised on a foolish and unconstitutional theory. I know it as confidently that those of you who work with numbers know that 2 + 2 = 5 is not a plausible argument. I know it as confidently that those of you in the arts know that “John Wayne Gacy is the most respected American painter” is wrong.

Yet we live under a Department of Justice that will commit this travesty and argue it’s valid.

And:

I believe it is unlikely the indictment will survive….

…But that’s not the point, is it? The point of the indictment is to demonstrate that the United States Department of Justice is wholly an instrument of Donald Trump’s senescent pique, no more independent of him than a boil on his ass. The point is to show that the administration can, and will, use the Department’s mechanisms to punish enemies. The point is to show that the Department can, and will, punish protected speech. The point is to show that the Department is staffed by committed fanatics willing to do anything, however unethical and unconstitutional, to promote Trump.

The point is to show that in the war between Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Justice, Trump has won. Now they’re on the field slitting the throats of the wounded and looting bodies.

The road back to credibility for the Department will be long and arduous. I do not expect it to recoup its presumption of regularity or respect within a generation.

Former DOJ official tells me: "This might be the worst case DOJ has filed in my lifetime." https://t.co/TCicYv5ggO

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 29, 2026

They’re charging James Comey for posting “8647” on his Instagram, saying it’s a threat.

Do you know how stupid this is?

I worked in food service.

When we “86’d” someone, that meant “throw them out.” Not KILL the customer.

— Miles Taylor (@MilesTaylorUSA) April 28, 2026

I hope that Todd Blanche doesn’t have any big plans for his legal career after Trump’s term is over.

Because he’s going to get disbarred for this blatantly unethical prosecution. pic.twitter.com/l9i82uicGP

— Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) April 28, 2026

Both sides, amirite? pic.twitter.com/JG6Bjdbkr4

— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) April 28, 2026

Comey: Well, 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.

But nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent. I'm still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let's… pic.twitter.com/3nE2sQweNy

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 28, 2026

Reports are surfacing that the Trump DOJ has indicted former FBI Director James Comey over his social media post featuring seashells forming the number "8647."

The term "86" is common restaurant and colloquial slang meaning to eject, cancel, or get rid of something—as in, "Let’s… pic.twitter.com/a23EZOzoaY

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 28, 2026

When can we expect the indictment? pic.twitter.com/oKbGtXywlO

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 28, 2026

Kash Patel announces the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly threatening to kill President Trump based on his “8647” social media post.

Patel says they investigated this case for 9–11 months. pic.twitter.com/oD2VlwdtVi

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 28, 2026

BREAKING: James Comey was indicted for an Instagram post.

The indictment claims the photo Comey posted of Seashells was a threat to Trump’s life.

Where’s the indictment of Trump for threatening to genocide an entire civilization?

No fan of Comey but this will get thrown out. pic.twitter.com/KH5CgrjN17

— Power to the People ?? (@ProudSocialist) April 28, 2026

People are saying James Comey was indicted again for posting a shell photo that said “86 47.”

That’s not what happened.

A new grand jury returned a second indictment.

But this isn’t a brand-new case — it’s prosecutors coming back after the first one fell apart on procedural… pic.twitter.com/MRXwSllAyz

— P a u l ? (@SkylineReport) April 28, 2026

The latest Trump Justice Department indictment of James Comey is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/lFd3qnGvUE

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 28, 2026

I assume the Trump DOJ will be arresting @JackPosobiec too, right?

He posted "8646" about Biden like James Comey posted "8647" about Trump.

We are living in a tyranny! Two-tiered Justice System! pic.twitter.com/wBuM4eWuo5

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 28, 2026

If you thought the last Trump DOJ indictment of James Comey was thrown out quickly…just watch the speed with which the seashell charges are tossed. DOJ is going to get humiliated. This indictment is so pathetic.

— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) April 28, 2026

JB Pritzker on James Comey: “The case is going to be thrown out, I can almost guarantee you. We’re talking about seashells on a beach. This president is guilty of inciting violence and now he’s going after people for exercising their First Amendment rights. I’m disgusted by what… pic.twitter.com/yMHfkU9a6O

— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 28, 2026

The idea that there are witnesses or "documents" that show that James Comey intended to threaten to murder Donald Trump is preposterous. Todd Blanche has lost all sense of shame or honor. pic.twitter.com/nhOYO7izoA

— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) April 28, 2026

It’s actually so sad to see what’s happened to the DOJ. It’ll take a century to repair.

I’ll delete my account if the James Comey indictment goes anywhere. Complete lunacy.

— Chris Mowrey (@chrisdmowrey) April 28, 2026

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