Former FBI Director, James Comey, has again been indicted by the United States Department of Justice over a controversial Instagram post that featured seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47”,
The new criminal charges were filed on Tuesday, following months of controversy surrounding the now-deleted post shared by Comey last year.
The image, which Comey captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk”, had triggered backlash from Trump allies and conservative commentators who argued that the numbers carried violent connotations.
In American slang, “86” is sometimes used to mean “remove” or “get rid of,” while “47” was widely interpreted as a reference to Trump as the 47th president of the United States.
Following the criticism, Comey deleted the post and denied any violent intent.
“It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down”, Comey said in a statement posted on Instagram at the time.
Federal law enforcement authorities subsequently opened an investigation into the post and reportedly interviewed the former FBI chief.
Tuesday’s indictment marks the second criminal case brought against Comey by the Justice Department within the past year. In 2025, prosecutors charged Comey with allegedly making false statements to Congress in relation to testimony connected to investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
However, that case was later dismissed after a federal judge ruled that the prosecutor overseeing the matter had been improperly appointed.
Comey has remained one of Trump’s most prominent critics since his dismissal as FBI Director in May 2017 during investigations into alleged ties between Trump associates and Russia.
The renewed charges also come amid broader Justice Department investigations involving several former officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
