James Comey on Sunday urged Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to “bone up on the rules” amid the federal prosecution of the former FBI director. “I don’t talk about the case because the federal court rules require you not. I would urge the acting attorney general to bone up on the rules,” Comey said during… Source link
Former FBI Director James Comey said Sunday that he has “complete faith in our judicial system” as he faces an ongoing federal case over a 2025 Instagram post. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The judiciary is “the genius of our founders,” Comey told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “It’s frankly the only leg of our three-legged stool that is still standing in the U.S. government, but it’s standing tall and straight,” he added. “It is the guardian of the rule of law, and I believe in it.” The former FBI director was indicted last month after prosecutors alleged his photo of seashells spelling out “86 47” was a threat against the president’s life. Trump administration officials and the Justice Department allege that “86” means “to kill,” with President Donald Trump telling reporters in the Oval Office last month, “Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86 — you know what 86 — it’s a mob term for kill him.” Restaurant workers, on the …
A federal judge on Friday set a July 15 trial date for former FBI Director James Comey on his new criminal charges of threatening President Trump. U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, who will oversee the trial, also agreed that Comey doesn’t have to make the trek to her North Carolina courtroom on Monday to formally… Source link
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey did not solely result from an Instagram post depicting seashells forming the numbers “86 47.” “Rest assured that the career assistant United States attorneys in North Carolina, the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents that investigated this… Source link
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Skip to Content news Alerts There are no new alerts at this time 02:02 Acting AG Blanche says Comey indictment ‘not just about’ one post 00:0000:00 Source link
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) on Sunday expressed reservations about the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey. “If this whole case is based on a picture in the sand of a North Carolina beach, it again makes no sense to me,” Tillis told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Comey, who… Source link
On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina handed down a two-count indictment against the former FBI director James Comey, charging him with threatening the life of President Donald Trump and transmitting that threat across state lines. The basis for the charges: an Instagram post from May 2025 in which Comey shared a photo captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The shells on the sand spelled out “86 47.” Each count carries a maximum of ten years in federal prison. Comey deleted the post the same day it went up and issued an immediate clarification on social media. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote. “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.” He later told interviewers that he and his wife had simply spotted the formation during a stroll along a North Carolina beach and read it as a quirky, possibly restaurant-themed joke. Despite the dubious explanation, from the moment the post …
To serve in Donald Trump’s Cabinet is to perform for an audience of one, and in the weeks since she was fired by the president, it’s become clear why Pam Bondi’s run as attorney general was a failure: She was unable to convict any of the president’s enemies. Todd Blanche, her deputy and temporary — at least for now — replacement, was taking notes. Now he is taking action. The Justice Department has filed motions to allow Trump to build his Big Beautiful Ballroom, indicted Anthony Fauci’s former deputy over allegedly conspiring to conceal documents related to the Covid-19 pandemic and moved quickly on superfluous investigations involving the Russia probe that was opened during Barack Obama’s administration. But this week the department really nailed it. Standing alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, who may himself soon be on the way out, Blanche announced that James Comey, Patel’s predecessor and the president’s longtime foe, was being indicted for threatening Trump’s life. This is exactly the kind of charge the president wanted to see — one so personal and …
FILE PHOTO: Former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Senate Hart building on Capitol Hill, on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Cheriss May | Nurphoto | Getty Images Former FBI Director James Comey appeared in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court on Wednesday, a day after a two-count indictment charged him with threatening to kill President Donald Trump last May by posting on Instagram a photo of seashells arranged to form the message “86 47” on a North Carolina beach. Comey’s lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, told Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick that he intends to file a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of vindictive prosecution. Fitzgerald had filed such a motion when Comey was indicted in another federal criminal case last fall, which was later tossed out on other grounds. Fitzgerald, a former top federal prosecutor, asked the judge about preserving inflammatory statements about Comey that have been made by both Trump and the Department of Justice. The judge, Fitzpatrick, pointedly referenced the prior case when he said Comey …
A demonstrator holds up an “8647” sign at a “No Kings” protest in Louisville, Ky., in June 2025. It’s an anti-Trump slogan, with multiple interpretations. Jon Cherry/AP hide caption toggle caption Jon Cherry/AP Former FBI Director James Comey was charged this week over a year-old social media post of a seashell formation that the Justice Department alleges constituted a threat to President Trump’s life. A grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday saying that Comey “did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States” when he posted a picture of seashells in the sand on a North Carolina beach in May 2025. The seashells were arranged — it’s not clear by whom — to form the numbers “8647.” Eighty-six is a slang term widely interpreted as meaning “get rid of,” while Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president. “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” Comey said in …
