FILE PHOTO: FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017.
Joshua Roberts | Reuters
Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted on charges alleging he threatened President Donald Trump when he posted an image of seashells spelling out “8647” on his Instagram account last year, a source familiar with the matter told MS NOW.
The charges, which have yet to be made public, mark the second time that Comey has been indicted in a federal case since Trump’s second presidential term began.
Trump had accused Comey, whom he has long viewed as a foe, of “calling for the assassination of the president” by sharing the image of the numbers in the May 15 post.
Source: @comey | Instagram
“Eighty-six” is a term often used in the restaurant industry when a menu item is discontinued. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary says it can more broadly mean “to eject, dismiss, or remove (someone).”
Trump is the 47th U.S. president.
Comey at the time denied he was threatening Trump with the seashell post, writing in a follow-up, “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” He said deleted it anyway because “I oppose violence of any kind.”
The Trump administration investigated Comey over the social media post, but no charges were immediately brought.
Around four months later, however, he was indicted in Virginia on one count each of making a false statement to Congress and obstruction.
Comey denied the charges, which were brought under Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer for Trump who was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In November, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against Comey after ruling that Halligan was unlawfully appointed.
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