Comey arraignment set for September, trial in October in New Bern

Arraignment has been pushed back to Sept. 30 and a trial date delayed until Oct. 21 in the federal case accusing former FBI Director James Comey of threatening President Donald Trump’s life. Both proceedings are scheduled to take place in New Bern.

US District Judge Louise Flanagan issued an order Tuesday delaying both proceedings. Comey’s arraignment had been scheduled June 30, with a trial to follow on July 15.

Comey had filed a request last week seeking a delay.

“The gravity of the charges, anticipated further discovery production to defendant, and the need to provide defendant time to file motions based upon same promote need for continuance,” Flanagan wrote in Tuesday’s four-page order. “Implicit in the government’s reported statement of no opposition here is the government’s agreement that the ends of justice served by this continuance, for direct benefit of defendant, outweigh the interests of the public in a speedy trial.”

Comey’s lawyers filed a motion on May 20 to push the arraignment back to October.

“Mr. Comey expects to file multiple motions on constitutional grounds seeking dismissal of the indictment,” his lawyers wrote. “Some of these motions may be dependent upon the discovery to be produced by the Government, and may require extensive briefing. Discovery is still forthcoming from the Government. For that reason, Mr. Comey respectfully requests that the Court extend the current scheduling deadlines.”

Phil Aubart, the first assistant US attorney working on the case, “does not oppose” Comey’s proposed schedule, according to the court filing.

Comey faces two charges related to alleged threats against Trump. The charges are based on a 2025 Instagram post in which Comey documented sea shells on a beach arranged to spell out “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.

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

The indictment 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.

A 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.”

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 arraignment set for September, trial in October in New Bern” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.