Yep, you read that headline right. On Tuesday, the Justice Department finally found the litigative ammo it needed to indict former FBI Director James Comey, and charged him with allegedly making a threat to Trump’s life after he posted an Instagram photo of “8647” in seashells on a beach in North Carolina. Jury’s out on whether the VSCO girls who spelled angry messages out with their puka necklaces will also get a knock on their door anytime soon.
The Trump DOJ reportedly indicted former FBI Director James Comey over his social media post featuring seashells forming the number “8647.”
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) April 28, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Comey posted the now-deleted photo nearly a full year ago, captioning it, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” He never named Trump in the post, but many—especially those in the restaurant industry—recognized the joke of “86’ing” something, aka throwing it out because it’s not good, unavailable, or no longer in season. This can be anything from an undercooked burger, an outdated menu, or a shit-at-his-job president.
MAGA, however, took to interpreting “86ing” the 47th as a direct threat to Trump’s life—and proceeded to freak out in response. Hours after the photo was posted, the Secret Service interviewed Comey by phone; then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tweeted about the “social media post calling for the assassination of President Trump”; and speaking to Fox News, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said Comey should be “put behind bars” and that the post made her “very concerned” for Trump’s life. Trump also went on Fox News to claim, “That meant ‘assassination’…and it says it loud and clear. [Comey] wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant.”
Comey removed the photo the same day, emphasizing that the shells were just meant to be a “political message.” “[I] didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote.
The three-page indictment claims any reasonable person would see the post “as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to President Trump,” and demands from Comey “any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the said offense.” Because I’m sure Comey made a windfall on posting these seashells to his Instagram.
In a video statement posted to his Substack, Comey said, “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.” He continued, “This is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Justice Department is supposed to be.”
It’s the second time Trump’s attempted to indict the former FBI director, after in September he sicced the DOJ on Comey over two felony counts of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. Specifically, these lawsuits referred to a testimony Comey gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2016 about an FBI investigation into “Russiagate,” or whether Russia interfered with that year’s presidential election. At the time, Comey had said he didn’t authorize anyone in the FBI to leak any ongoing investigations. His deputy, Andrew McCabe, testified otherwise, saying Comey did provide authorization to leak information. A subsequent report found McCabe’s statements flawed and misleading. Both of the September indictments were dismissed a month later, after a federal judge found that the prosecutor behind them—Lindsey Halligan—was grossly unqualified for her job.
“[Comey] disgracefully encouraged a threat on President Trump’s life and posted it on Instagram for the world to see,” FBI Director Kash Patel announced in a press release following the indictment. “As the former Director of the FBI, he knew full well the attention and consequences of making such a post.” Sage advice from the guy who can’t seem to go a minute without fucking up his job because of how online he is.
