The Daily Fuckup

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted former FBI Director James Comey on April 28, 2026, on two federal charges tied to a post he made on Instagram nearly a year earlier. The Justice Department says the case centers on a May 15, 2025 post showing seashells arranged to read “86 47,” which prosecutors contend could be understood as a threat against President Donald J. Trump.

The indictment adds a formal criminal case to a dispute that has already played out in public. But the charging document is focused on one communication and the government’s claim about what it meant. The legal fight now turns on whether prosecutors can prove the post crossed the line from provocative commentary or political signaling into a true threat under federal law.

That distinction will matter more than the surrounding noise. Comey’s supporters are likely to argue that the post was not a threat at all and that any criminal case is being filtered through politics because of his history with Trump. Prosecutors, by contrast, are presenting the matter as a straightforward enforcement action based on a single post and the message they say it carried.

Whatever happens next, the case is likely to draw heavy attention because of the people involved. The indictment itself, though, is narrower than the broader political fight around it. What the government has charged is specific: a May 15, 2025 Instagram post, a later grand jury indictment on April 28, 2026, and allegations that the post amounted to a threat.