Former FBI Director, James Comey was indicted on April 28, after he posted a photo of seashells which officials claimed is a post to threaten US President Donald Trump. The seashells were spelt out in numbers “86 47.” The number 86 could also often indicate to get rid out of someone, it originated from the 1930s restaurant slang to indicate that an item was out of stock to refuse servicing a customer.
Trump second term in office makes him the 47th president. Charges against the former FBI director were approved by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey allegedly took the photo. The counts include making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, as per court documents.
How did James Comey react to his charges
James Comey took to his Substack account to deny the allegations, and said,
“I’m still innocent I’m still afraid. And I still believe in the independant federal judiciary, so let’s go.”
Comey also said that he didn’t realize that some people associate the numbers with violence, and took the post down.
Former FBI Director, James Comey has been an outspoken cirtic of Trump, since he led the FBI during president’s first term. In 2017, Trump fired Comey, four years into his ten-year term, when he was overseeing an investigatio into the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a press conference on Tuesday, said,
“Threatening he life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice. While this case is unique and this indictment stands out because the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute.”
When several legal experts claimed that Comey’s post seemed to fall in the bounds of politicla speech protected by the First Amendment, Blanche pushed back saying,
“You’re not allowed to threaten the President of the United States of America. That’s not my decision. That’s Congress’s decision, and a statue that they passed that we charge multiple times a year.”
Comey’s lawyer in a statement claimed that the former FBI director, “vigorously denies” the charges. Both counts against James Comey carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. US Presdient, Donald Trump is yet to comment on the matter.
Edited by Tanisha Aggarwal