The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted James Comey, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director who was dismissed by President Donald Trump for leading an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

The former FBI director has been a frequent target of Mr Trump since the U.S. president’s first term in office. 

The DoJ indicted Mr Comey on Tuesday for posting a photograph of seashells bearing “86 47” on a North Carolina beach in 2025. The indictment is the second time the former FBI boss has been charged under Mr Trump’s administration, and is likely to face charges for the second time in two consecutive years.

Though Mr Comey has insisted he did not know what the numbers meant, Mr Trump and some members of his administration have said the post was a threat against the 47th president. They argued that “Eighty-six” is slang meaning “eject” or “remove,” while Mr Trump is the U.S. 47th president; hence, the number meant “remove Trump”.

U.S. Secret Service agents interviewed Mr Comey in May 2025 about the seashell photo. But he deleted the Instagram post, while noting in a follow-up post that he “didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence.” 

He added, “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.”

In response to his comments, Mr Trump said even “a child knows what that meant,” referring to the numbers “86 47”.

Mr Comey was first indicted and charged by the DoJ in September 2025. The Justice Department accused him of lying to Congress in 2020, but he pleaded not guilty. 

A federal judge, however, dismissed the case in November, noting that the interim federal prosecutor who brought the charges was improperly appointed.

However, the judge left open the possibility for the government to refile the case, a prospect Mr Comey acknowledged after the ruling, saying he believes Mr Trump “will probably come after me again.”