Donald Trump‘s Justice Department has indicted ex-FBI boss James Comey for an Instagram post.
The Daily Mail has learned the new indictment relates to an Instagram post Comey made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out ‘8647’, a phrase adopted by Trump’s critics that the president and his allies have characterized as a call for his assassination.
The number 86 is slang for removing or getting rid of something, though it can also mean to kill. Trump is the 47th president. Comey posted the photo with the caption: ‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk.’
Trump’s allies claimed the post called ‘for the assassination’ of the Trump. Then-Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said Secret Service would investigate the former FBI director.
Comey later deleted the post the same day, claiming he ‘didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.’
The Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the time said he should be ‘put behind bars for this’ and that she was ‘concerned’ Trump’s life was in danger.
Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia last fall on two counts: making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, related to his 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.
A federal judge dismissed the indictment in November, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed.
The Daily Mail has learned the new indictment relates to an Instagram post Comey made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out ‘8647’, a phrase adopted by Trump’s critics that the president and his allies have characterized as a call for his assassination
The Daily Mail has contacted the Justice Department for comment.