Exclusive: Justice Department indicts former FBI Director James Comey for a second time
By Hannah Rabinowitz, Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Tuesday over a photo of seashells officials said threatened President Donald Trump, marking the administration’s second attempt to prosecute one of his largest political opponents, three sources first told CNN.
Trump has long pressed for his political adversaries to face charges, including the former FBI director he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to “weaponize” justice system against him.
Last May, Comey posted a photo on social media of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47,” which critics said referred to taking out or killing Trump.
When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out. Trump is currently the 47th president. Comey posted the photo of the shells, writing in the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Almost immediately following his post, Republicans and administration officials went full bore in their criticism of Comey at the time, with then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing Comey would be investigated by the Secret Service over what she said was a call “for the assassination” of Trump.
The Secret Service brought Comey in for an hours-long interview with agents in Washington, DC, an uncommon step by the agency over a non-specific threat. Comey told investigators he saw the shells on a beach in North Carolina.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox News following Comey’s post that the former director should be “put behind bars for this” and that she was “very concerned” for Trump’s life.
Comey removed the post the same day, writing on social media that he assumed the shells represented “a political message” but “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”
“It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he wrote.
Legal and security experts have told CNN such a case against Comey may be fruitless, especially given the country’s free speech protections.
A second indictment
The case against Comey marks a newly reinvigorated effort by Trump’s Justice Department to convict the former director, who became a staunch critic of the president following his firing by Trump in 2017 over the Russia-meddling investigation.
In September of last year, the Justice Department first brought charges against Comey, accusing him of lying to Congress over leaks to the press. The case was dismissed late last year by a federal judge who found that the interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had been improperly appointed, having skirted approval from the Senate.
Comey’s attorneys declined to comment for this story.
The effort appears to have been reinvigorated by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has picked up the pace in bringing cases that the president has publicly jockeyed for since he was tapped for the role.
The former director fell out of favor with Trump before he was first elected president, as Comey’s agency investigated the Trump campaign and ties to Russia. Comey was fired in the months after the inauguration.
Since his firing, Comey has become an ardent critic of Trump and key enemy of Republican’s in the White House and Capitol Hill.
The story was updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
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