The justice department filed new criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director, on Tuesday.
Comey was charged in federal court in the eastern district of North Carolina over a picture he posted on Instagram while on vacation last year in which sea shells were arranged to say “86 47”. The post was taken as a threat to Donald Trump. The number 86 can be used as shorthand for getting rid of something, and Trump is the 47th president. Comey subsequently deleted the post and apologized, saying he didn’t realize the numbers were associated with violence.
Comey was charged with two felonies – making a threat against the president and transmitting that threat, via social media, across state lines. Both counts are punishable with a fine and a prison sentence of up to five years.
The new indictment marks the latest instance in which Trump’s justice department has used its power to target the US president’s political enemies. The justice department also criminally charged Letitia James, the New York attorney general, last year on thin allegations of mortgage fraud. The case was dismissed for the same reason Comey’s earlier case was tossed.
Justice department indicts ex-FBI director James Comey over Instagram post showing seashells
The indictment, made public on Tuesday, says that a reasonable person “would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States”.
Comey has long been the subject of Trump’s wrath over his investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia, and Trump allies had called for the former FBI director to be punished. Even though the post was widely seen as a non-violent anti-Trump expression, federal law enforcement officials investigated the matter and interviewed Comey.
Trump hails ‘special relationship’ during ceremonial welcome for King Charles’ state visit
Donald Trump has praised the “special relationship” between the US and the UK, as he hosted a ceremonial military welcome for King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House.
Against a backdrop of recent tensions between London and Washington, the US president, speaking on the second day of Charles’s state visit, said: “In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British.”
FCC orders review of ABC licenses after Jimmy Kimmel’s Melania Trump joke
The US’s top media watchdog announced on Tuesday that it is accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC, in a move critics see as a clear example of political and regulatory retribution against a disfavored broadcaster.
UAE quits Opec in win for Trump as oil cartel weakened
The United Arab Emirates has quit the Opec oil cartel after 60 years of membership, in a heavy blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, as global energy markets contend with the biggest supply crisis in history.
King Charles praises Nato and urges defence of Ukraine in key speech during Trump visit
In a speech that will be read as a veiled plea to Donald Trump to return to the United States’s traditional European alliances and restore his country’s role as a defender of liberal values, Charles said: “America’s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more.”
Press dinner shooting conspiracy theories spread in era of fractured politics
After an armed man attempted to breach the ballroom where Donald Trump was set to speak to White House journalists on Saturday, conspiracy theories immediately spread about whether the event was staged.
The conspiracy theories about the White House correspondents’ dinner gunman came as some of Trump’s former allies had been discussing a conspiracy theory publicly, for weeks, about a prior assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania during his 2024 campaign being staged.
US to issue ‘America250’ passports featuring Donald Trump’s image
The limited-edition documents, billed as a commemoration of the US’s 250th anniversary of independence, will display Donald Trump’s photograph on the inside cover, surrounded by the text of the Declaration of Independence and the US flag, with his signature rendered in gold. A separate page features the famous painting of the founding fathers signing that very document.
What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened 27 April 2026.
