Fox News legal contributor Jonathan Turley wasn’t going to bury his head in the sand after the Trump administration indicted ex-FBI Director James Comey for a beach photo he posted last year. (Watch the video below.)
Turley appeared skeptical of the development in an interview with the conservative channel on Tuesday.
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Comey was indicted again by Donald Trump’s Justice Department, this time for allegedly threatening the president by sharing a photo of seashells arranged on the sand in the shape of “86 47.”
The accusation reinforced the administration’s apparent effort to attack those Trump considers to be enemies through prosecution. But the case is flimsy, according to some legal experts.
The slang “86” usually refers to throwing someone out of an establishment, not murder or bodily harm, as advocates for the president seem to be insisting in the criminal accusation.
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Turley, however, was asked about a different facet of the case.
“When Comey initially posted that Instagram photo, his caption insinuated that he did not create this shell art formation in the sand,” co-anchor Gillian Turner said to Turley. “Does any of that matter in a legal sense in this case, whether Comey is the originator of that message or whether he just walked by as he claims to have done and photographed it?”
“Well, I have to say, I must be in a parallel universe to be talking about the shell artwork of James Comey,” Turley replied with a smile. “But the fact is that it is relevant only to the extent that he might have denied a fact” and that his denial “proved to be false to federal officials.”
“I think that just showing the picture is going to be a weak case in terms of a threat,” he continued.
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