Former FBI Director James Comey surrendered to federal authorities Wednesday ahead of his first appearance in a new criminal case tied to a social media post that critics say amounted to a threat against President Donald Trump.
Comey, who is charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, near his home. He left after a brief hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes, with no conditions of release.
“I don’t see why they’d be necessary this time,” Judge William Fitzpatrick said, noting that there were no conditions set when the Justice Department first attempted to bring a case against Comey last year.
Comey was not asked to enter a plea and did not speak during the hearing. He entered and exited through a side entrance typically used by defendants, wearing a dark suit.
The charges were brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but the initial court appearance was held in Virginia. No date was set for Comey’s arraignment or his first appearance in North Carolina. Ellis Boyle, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina who will oversee the case as it moves to federal court in New Bern, North Carolina, was in the courtroom Wednesday.
Tuesday’s indictment centers on a photo Comey posted last May showing seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” Comey wrote in the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Comey Instagram post-Screenshot.
Republicans and administration officials quickly blasted the post as a veiled threat. In slang, “86” can mean getting rid of something, and Trump is the 47th president.
Comey’s attorneys told the judge they plan to file motions accusing the Justice Department of selectively and vindictively prosecuting their client.
Comey’s latest indictment comes as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has accelerated high-profile prosecutions that the president has publicly called for. The case is also the latest flashpoint in Trump allies’ long-running claims that the justice system was “weaponized” against him, with Comey viewed as a central villain by many on the right after the FBI’s Russia investigation and other clashes during Trump’s first term.
Legal analysts have questioned whether the post meets the threshold for a criminal threat.
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“This is not going anywhere. This is clearly not a punishable threat,” Eugene Volokh, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who specializes in First Amendment law, told CNN Tuesday.
This is the second time Trump’s Justice Department has brought charges against Comey. In September of last year, prosecutors charged him with lying to Congress over leaks to the press. That case was dismissed late last year after a federal judge found the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had been improperly appointed without Senate approval.
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