Critics of the Justice Department say it escalated its pursuit of President Trump’s political adversaries on Tuesday, after former FBI Director James Comey was hit with two serious felony charges tied to a social media post from last year.
The post at the center of the case didn’t include any direct criticism of the president, any explicit call for harm, or even any text. Instead, it featured a photo of seashells and rocks arranged to display the numbers ‘8647’.
Comey — who led the FBI from 2013 to 2017 — removed the image shortly after it began drawing attention for what some claimed was a coded message. Even so, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has now moved forward with an indictment, alleging he made a threat against the president and transmitted that threat.
The push to bring criminal charges against the former FBI chief has been a recurring theme during the president’s second term, particularly after Comey oversaw the investigation tied to the Russiagate scandal and later wrote in his memoir that Trump was ‘unfit for office’.
Earlier attempts to prosecute Comey did not succeed. In September last year, Trump officials again sought charges against him — including making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding — after he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s effort to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.
That earlier case did not proceed, however, after the US Attorney who brought it, Lindsey Halligan, was found to have been improperly appointed. The attorney she replaced had been fired by the president after pushing back against filing charges against the former FBI director.
Now, Comey is again the subject of major federal charges — this time stemming from a single image post featuring the numbers ‘8647’.
Comey is accused of committing two felonies in connection with the photo above, which shows shells and stones placed to read ‘8647’. He shared it with the caption ‘cool shell formation on my beach walk.’
DOJ chief Todd Blanche said as he revealed the charges: “I think it’s fair to say that threatening the life of anybody is dangerous and potentially a crime. Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice.”
The controversy centers on how the numbers are being interpreted. In restaurant slang, ’86’ is widely used to indicate an item is no longer available — or that staff should stop serving it.
And because Donald Trump became the 47th president in 2024 after winning a second election, critics argued the combined numbers amount to a message to remove him from office.
Some went further, reading the post as something more ominous. When he took the image down, Comey said the meaning ‘never occurred to me’ and explained he deleted it because ‘I oppose violence of any kind’.
Comey has also said he didn’t create the arrangement. He maintains that he and his wife simply encountered the shells and rocks already positioned that way while walking along a beach in North Carolina.
After news of the federal charges emerged, the former FBI director responded: “Nothing has changed. I’m still innocent; I’m still not afraid. I still believe in an independent justice system.”