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Ex-FBI Director Comey Indicted Again 04/29 06:09
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted again
Tuesday, this time over a social media photo of seashells arranged on a beach
that officials said constituted a threat against President Donald Trump.
The criminal case is the second in months against Comey and is part of the
Trump administration Justice Department's relentless effort to prosecute
political opponents of the Republican president. The seashells photo was posted
nearly a year ago, but the indictment was secured at a time when acting
Attorney General Todd Blanche, a Trump loyalist who previously served as his
personal lawyer, aims to prove to the president that he is the right person to
hold the job permanently.
The fact that the Justice Department pursued a new case months after a
separate and unrelated indictment was dismissed could expose the government to
claims of a vindictive prosecution and to arguments that it is going out of its
way to target Comey, who as FBI director had overseen the early months of an
investigation into whether Trump's 2016 campaign had coordinated with Russia to
sway the outcome of that year's election.
Comey was fired by Trump months into the president's first term as that
investigation was underway, and they have openly feuded ever since.
The prosecution arises from a May post on Instagram in which Comey shared a
photo of seashells he saw on a walk in the arrangement of "86 47." He has said
he assumed that the numbers reflected a political message, not a call to
violence. Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, writing: "I didn't
realize some folks associate those numbers with violence" and "I oppose
violence of any kind so I took the post down."
Nonetheless, Comey was swiftly interviewed by the Secret Service after Trump
administration officials asserted that he was advocating the assassination of
Trump, the 47th president.
The case was filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the state
where Comey found the seashells.
"Well, they're back -- this time about a picture of seashells on a North
Carolina beach a year ago, and this won't be the end of it," Comey said in a
video statement Tuesday. "But nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent,
I'm still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.
So let's go."
The two-count indictment charges Comey with "knowingly and willfully" making
a threat to "take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon" Trump and with
transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. It does not provide evidence that
Comey knowingly threatened Trump, especially since Comey has said the opposite,
but suggested a "reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances
would interpret" the message as a threat.
At a news conference Tuesday, Blanche refused to elaborate on any evidence
of intent the government has but said: "How do you prove intent in any case?
You prove intent with witnesses, with documents, with the defendant himself to
the extent it's appropriate. And that's how we'll prove intent in this case."
And in an effort to rebut claims that Comey was being selectively
prosecuted, Blanche contended the case against the former FBI director was
similar to other threats cases the department routinely brings against the
lesser known.
"While this case is unique and this indictment stands out because of 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," Blanche said.
Comey's legal team said in a statement that they "will contest these charges
in the courtroom and look forward to vindicating Mr. Comey and the First
Amendment." They said he "vigorously denies" the charges.
What 86 means
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is
slang meaning "to throw out," "to get rid of" or "to refuse service to." It
notes: "Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the
previous ones, with the meaning of 'to kill.' We do not enter this sense, due
to its relative recency and sparseness of use."
Trump, in a Fox News Channel interview in May, accused Comey of knowing
"exactly what that meant."
"A child knows what that meant," Trump said. "If you're the FBI director and
you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud
and clear."
Comey's first indictment
The former FBI director was indicted in September on charges he lied to
Congress in 2020 about whether he had authorized information about an
investigation to be provided to a journalist. He denied any wrongdoing. The
case was dismissed after a judge concluded the prosecutor who brought the
indictment was illegally appointed.
Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been
appointed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and serving before that
as a senior Justice Department official in President George W. Bush's
Republican administration.
But the relationship was strained from the start, including after Comey
resisted a request by Trump at a private dinner to pledge his personal loyalty
to the president -- an overture that so unnerved the FBI director that he
documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.
Trump fired Comey in May 2017 amid an FBI investigation into potential ties
between Russia and Trump's campaign. That inquiry, later taken over by special
counsel Robert Mueller, found that while Russia interfered in the 2016 election
and the Trump team welcomed the help, there was insufficient evidence to prove
a criminal collaboration.
Other politically charged prosecutions
Blanche was elevated earlier this month from deputy attorney general to
acting attorney general, replacing Pam Bondi, who had frustrated Trump with the
department's struggles to build successful criminal cases against his
adversaries.
Blanche since then has moved quickly to accelerate politically charged
prosecutions, including a case last week against the nonprofit Southern Poverty
Law Center, which is accused by the Justice Department of misleading donors by
using their money to pay informants who served as leaders in the hate groups
the organization was founded to fight. The group has denied any wrongdoing.
Comey is among many Trump foes to face scrutiny over the last year.
The Justice Department, for instance, is also pursuing a criminal
investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan, another key figure in the
Russia investigation -- one of Trump's chief grievances and a saga he and his
supporters have long sought retaliation for. Brennan has denied doing anything
wrong.
CNN was the first to report the second indictment against Comey.
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