File photo: FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee at a hearing into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, on March 20, 2017.
Joshua Roberts | reuters
Former FBI director James Comey has been charged with threatening President Donald Trump after he posted an image of seashells with the inscription “8647” on his Instagram account last year, a source familiar with the matter told MS NOW.
The charges, which have not yet been made public, mark the second time Comey has been indicted in a federal case since the beginning of Trump’s second presidential term.
Trump accused Comey, whom he views as a longtime foe, of “calling for the assassination of the President” by sharing the image of the numbers in a May 15 post.
Source: @Komi | Instagram
“Eighty-six” is a term often used in the restaurant industry when a menu item is discontinued. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Says it can more broadly mean “to kick out, dismiss, or remove someone.”
Trump is the 47th President of America.
Comey denied at the time that he was threatening Trump with the seashell post, writing in a follow-up, “I had no idea some people associated those numbers with violence.” He said it was removed anyway because “I oppose violence of any kind.”
The Trump administration investigated Comey over the social media posts, but no charges were immediately filed.
However, about four months later, he was convicted in Virginia of one count each of making a false statement before Congress and obstruction.
Comey denied the allegations, which were made under Trump’s former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was appointed interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In November, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against Comey, ruling that Halligan was unlawfully appointed.
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