The Justice Department under Donald Trump has brought charges against James Comey, alleging that the former FBI director threatened the President’s life through a post on Instagram. A grand jury has subsequently issued a warrant for Comey’s arrest.

According to the Justice Department, Comey is accused of ‘knowingly and willfully’ making threats against the life of the President and is said to have conveyed this threat via social media.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized at a press conference on Tuesday, “It is absolutely unacceptable to threaten the life of the President of the United States. Period.”

The charges stem from an Instagram post made by Comey in May, which displayed seashells arranged to form ‘8647.’ This sequence has been interpreted by Trump’s critics in a contentious manner, leading the President and his supporters to view it as an incitement to violence.

The grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina issued the arrest warrant, though it remains unclear if the Department of Justice sought this warrant during the initial indictment process.

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.’

Defending his actions, Comey posted a video on Substack, asserting his innocence. He stated, “I maintain my innocence, I stand unafraid, and I continue to have faith in the impartiality of the federal judiciary. Let’s proceed.”

Trump’s allies claimed the post called for Trump’s assassination. Then-homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Secret Service would investigate the former FBI director. 

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

‘You cannot threaten to kill the President of the United States. Full stop,’ said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche

The number 86 is slang for removing or getting rid of something, though it can also mean to kill. Trump is the 47th President

Trump’s allies claimed the post called for Trump’s assassination. Then-homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the 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.’

Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey soon afterward. 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.

Blanche’s push to indict him comes a month after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, for failing to pursue his perceived enemies aggressively enough.

Trump accidentally posted a message on Truth Social in September pressuring Bondi to prosecute his political enemies, including Comey. 

The President’s message to Bondi came just days before the initial Comey indictment.

The Justice Department initially dropped the seashells investigation into Comey under Bondi but it was revived in recent months, according to the New York Times.

Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal attorney before joining the administration, appears to have led efforts to revive the targeting of Trump’s political enemies.

Comey led the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, before the President fired him the following year

Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey a day after he made the post

He is widely considered a frontrunner to become the President’s official nominee for attorney general.

Comey led the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, before the President fired him the following year.

He remains one of Trump’s most vocal critics on network television.

‘It’s really important that all of us remember, this is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be,’ Comey said on Tuesday evening in response to the indictment. 

Comey is not the only Trump adversary to face the wrath of the Justice Department in the last year.

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted on bank fraud charges last October but a federal judge dismissed the case.

James led the civil fraud against Trump that resulted in a $454 million judgment against him in February 2024. However, the New York state appeals court later overturned the penalty.

The Daily Mail has contacted Comey for comment. His legal team has not issued a public statement on the indictment. 

The indictment comes just days after alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen stormed the Washington Correspondents’ Dinner in what prosecutors say was a plot to assassinate the President and his top Cabinet members.