Comey Rejects Claim He Threatened Trump, Says He Is ‘Still Not Afraid’

James Comey is facing new criminal charges after a North Carolina grand jury indicted the former FBI director on allegations he threatened US President Donald Trump, reviving a legal fight that returns just five months after an earlier case against the longtime Trump critic was dismissed.

The indictment centres on an Instagram post Mr Comey, 65, shared in May last year showing the numbers “86 47” arranged in seashells.

In an interview with Fox News at the time, Mr Trump said “86” was slang for kill and that “47” referred to him as the 47th president.

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

“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,” Mr Comey said in a video statement posted on social media.

“I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.”

According to the indictment, 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 the charges include 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 of making an interstate threat.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“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 post drew attention, Mr Comey apologised and said he “didn’t realise 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 said.

The indictment was handed up 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.

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

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

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

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

Watch: Comey rejects Trump threat charge: ‘I’m still not afraid’

‘Petty retribution’

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin condemned the new case against Mr Comey, describing the indictment as “baseless” and an act of “petty retribution”.

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

Mr Comey was named FBI director by former president Barack Obama in 2013, before Mr Trump fired him in 2017 as investigators examined 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 charges against Mr Comey were filed only days after Mr Trump publicly pressed then-attorney general Pam Bondi to act against the former FBI chief and others, a striking break from the longstanding principle that the Justice Department should operate free of pressure from the White House.

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

Since returning to office, Mr Trump has pursued a series of punitive actions against people and institutions he sees as enemies, removing officials he considered disloyal, going after law firms tied to earlier 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 targeting those 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 was indicted on the same day a judge ruled that his daughter, Maurene Comey, may move forward with a lawsuit claiming her dismissal as a federal prosecutor last year was politically motivated.