DOJ indicts ex-FBI chief Comey over seashell post

What happened

The Justice Department on Tuesday indicted former FBI Director James Comey again, this time over a photo he posted last May showing seashells spelling out “86 47.” By posting 86 — a common term for ejecting unruly patrons from bars — and 47, the number of Donald Trump’s presidency, Comey “knowingly and willfully” threatened to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the president,” the two-count indictment alleged. The DOJ’s attempt to prosecute Comey last year for allegedly lying to Congress was thrown out by a judge.

Who said what

The charges are the “latest salvo” in the DOJ’s “tortured efforts to satisfy” Trump’s demands to “go after longtime targets of his wrath,” The New York Times said. Comey posted, then deleted, the beach photo “nearly a year ago,” The Associated Press said, but the indictment was secured as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “aims to prove to the president that he is the right person to hold the job permanently.”

“Well, they’re back,” Comey said in a video statement Tuesday. “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid. … so let’s go.”

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What next?

Prosecuting Comey for his seashell post “may be fruitless,” said CNN. “Especially given the country’s free speech protections.”