Comey will not appear in Greenville federal court next week

Former FBI Director James Comey will not head to a federal court in Greenville next week. A scheduled court appearance related to Comey’s recent indictment by a North Carolina federal grand jury is being canceled.

Comey faces two charges related to alleged threats against President Donald Trump. The charges are based on a social media post last year in which Comey documented sea shells on a beach arranged to spell out “86 47.”

He appeared in a Virginia federal courthouse on April 29, the day after his indictment. Comey lives in Virginia.

Comey’s lawyers filed a motion Thursday to cancel a “second initial appearance” scheduled May 11 at the federal courthouse in Greenville. The federal government “consents to this motion,” according to the court filing.

“Here, Mr. Comey made his initial appearance in the Eastern District of Virginia promptly, and a court has issued all of the appropriate notifications to both parties as codified in Rule 5,” Comey’s lawyers wrote. “Accordingly, the purpose of Rule 5 has been satisfied, and a second initial appearance is not anticipated, much less required, by the Rule.”

US District Judge Louise Flanagan issued an order Thursday indicating she would cancel the May 11 proceeding if Comey filed a waiver by Friday. Comey filed his waiver Friday morning.

The charges against Comey stemmed from a 2025 Instagram post involving seashells arranged on a beach with the message “86 47.”

The slang term “86” means “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to,” according to Merriam-Webster.com. Trump is the 47th American president.

The indictment includes two counts. First, it charges that Comey “knowingly and willfully made a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.”

While in the “Eastern District of North Carolina,” Comey “publicly posted a photograph on the internet social media site Instagram which depicted seashells arranged in a pattern making out ‘86 47,’ which a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States,” according to the indictment.

The second count charges that Comey “knowingly and willfully did transmit in interstate and foreign commerce a communication that contained a threat to kill the President, Donald J. Trump, specifically.”

“Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation’s laws,” US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a news release. “The grand jury returned an indictment alleging James Comey did just that, at a time when this country has witnessed violent incitement followed by deadly actions against President Trump and other elected officials. The temperature needs to be turned down, and anyone who dials it up and threatens the life of the President will be held accountable.” 

“You are not allowed to the threaten the president of the United States of America,” Blanche said during an April 28 news conference announcing the indictment. “That’s not my decision. That’s Congress’ decision in a statute that they passed that we charge multiple times in a year.”

“James Comey disgracefully encouraged a threat on President Trump’s life and posted it on Instagram for the world to see,” FBI Director Kash Patel added in the Justice Department news release. “As the former Director of the FBI, he knew full well the attention and consequences of making such a post. This FBI and our DOJ partners pursued a rigorous investigation that followed the facts — and now Mr. Comey will be held fully accountable for his actions.”

“No one is above the law in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” US Attorney Ellis Boyle said. “Our office regularly pursues threat cases including those against public officials. The Grand Jury examined the evidence in this case and found probable cause to indict Mr. Comey. We will continue to pursue the case as we regularly do every day to protect the people of this District and the United States.”

Comey is charged with threatening the president in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871(a) and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted.

The since-deleted social media post prompted a backlash last year. “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey wrote along with the photo of the arranged sea shells in the sand.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey wrote in a later Instagram post. “I didn’t realize 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.”

This is the Justice Department’s second indictment of Comey in seven months. In September he faced an indictment on charges that he lied to and obstructed Congress during testimony in 2020. That case was dropped when a judge concluded that the prosecutor handling the case had been appointed illegally.

“Comey will not appear in Greenville federal court next week” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.