Former US attorney Fitzgerald to defend Comey again in NC case

Former Chicago-based US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is defending James Comey against federal charges in North Carolina involvingan alleged threat against President Donald Trump.

“Nationally, Fitzgerald is best known for his role as special prosecutor in the investigation into a CIA leak that brought charges against I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby,” according to a September 2025 NBC News report.

That report explained that Fitzgerald planned to “spring from retirement” last fall to represent Comey, a former FBI director, against an earlier US Justice Department indictment.

Now Fitzgerald has filed paperwork in North Carolina’s Eastern District documenting his plan to represent Comey in the latest case.

Comey is scheduled for a June 30 arraignment in New Bern, with a July 15 trial to follow before US District Judge Louise Flanagan.

“[T]o Chicago, Fitzgerald is something of a legend,” according to the September NBC News report. “The George W. Bush appointee left an indelible legacy as a scrupulous, hard-charging prosecutor who disrupted the kinds of crooked backroom deals that were long a trademark of Illinois politics.”

“Over his nearly 12-year tenure as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, his prosecutions took down the Chicago mob, put two consecutive governors — one Republican, one Democratic — behind bars and won a conviction against a top donor to Barack Obama just as Obama was running for the White House,” NBC reported.

Fitzgerald is a “friend and former colleague” of Comey, according to the report.

Comey faces two charges related to alleged threats against 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.

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.

“Former US attorney Fitzgerald to defend Comey again in NC case” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.