Comey rejects accusation that Trump threatened him, says he is unafraid

A new indictment has thrust former FBI director James Comey back into the legal and political spotlight, accusing him of threatening US President Donald Trump’s life just five months after an earlier case against the longtime Trump critic was dismissed.

Handed up by a grand jury in North Carolina, the indictment centers on an Instagram post Mr Comey, 65, shared in May last year showing the numbers “86 47” arranged in seashells.

At the time, Mr Trump told Fox News that “86” was slang for kill and that “47” pointed to his status as the 47th president.

“He knew exactly what that meant,” Mr Trump said. “That meant assassination.”

Mr Comey, responding in a video statement posted on social media, said the renewed case would not be the last chapter.

“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,” he said.

The indictment claims the “86 47” arrangement in the shells amounted to a “serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

James Comey said he still believes in the independent federal judiciary

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Mr Comey has been charged with one count of “willfully making a threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States” and a second count alleging an interstate threat.

Both charges carry maximum prison terms of 10 years.

“I think it’s fair to say that threatening the life of anybody is dangerous and potentially a crime,” Mr Blanche said.

“Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice.”

After the Instagram post surfaced last year, Mr Comey apologized and said he had not understood the numbers could be read as violent.

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

The new indictment was filed three days after authorities arrested a gunman accused of trying to assassinate Mr Trump during a Washington dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Mr Comey had already been charged in September with making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, in a case widely viewed as retaliation by the Republican president against a political adversary.

A federal judge later dismissed that matter, ruling that the US attorney selected by Mr Trump to bring the charges had been unlawfully appointed.

That same judge also threw out a separate case brought against another Trump adversary, New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Another prominent Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, has also been indicted over allegations that he transmitted and retained classified information.

‘Petty retribution’

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin condemned the latest case against Mr Comey, calling it “baseless” and describing it as “petty retribution.”

“This is another case of a weaponized Justice Department lashing out on behalf of a vengeful president,” Mr Durbin said in a statement.

Mr Comey was appointed FBI director by former president Barack Obama in 2013, then dismissed by Mr Trump in 2017 while the bureau was investigating whether members of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign had colluded with Moscow to influence the 2016 election.

Donald Trump pictured with James Comey in January 2017

The September case against Mr Comey was brought just days after Mr Trump publicly pressed then-attorney general Pam Bondi to move against the former FBI chief and others, a striking break from the longstanding principle that the Justice Department should operate free of White House pressure.

Ms Bondi was dismissed this month, with reports saying her failure to secure indictments against Mr Trump’s political opponents played a role.

Since returning to office, Mr Trump has imposed a series of punitive moves against people and institutions he sees as enemies, removing officials he regarded as disloyal, targeting law firms linked to past cases against him and cutting federal funding to universities.

Mr Blanche, who became acting attorney general after Ms Bondi was fired, has defended the investigations involving Mr Trump’s opponents.

“It is true that some of them involve men, women and entities that the president, in the past, has had issues with and believes should be investigated,” he said. “That is his right, and indeed, it is his duty to do that.”

Mr Comey’s indictment was announced the same day a judge ruled that his daughter, Maurene Comey, may continue with a lawsuit claiming her dismissal as a federal prosecutor last year was politically motivated.