Q: How will you prove intent when Comey said he didn't associate '86' with doing harm and he took it down promptly, saying it was political speech?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 28, 2026
BLANCHE: How do you prove intent in any case? With witnesses, documents, with the defendants himself, and that's how we'll do it in… pic.twitter.com/qrpe4lnDHN
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted over a photo of seashells (below) with the numbers “86 47″ that he posted on social media in May 2025, which Trump officials claimed somehow threatened President Donald Trump.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked by reporters how he intended to prove criminal intent behind the photo of seashells, but failed to name anything specific. The indictment against Comey is two pages thin.
Comey responded with a video posted to his Substack account:
I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.
CNN reports the Trump Justice Department tried and failed to convict Comey in September 2025:
In September of last year, the Justice Department first brought charges against Comey, accusing him of lying to Congress over leaks to the press. The case was dismissed late last year by a federal judge…
To prove the crime, prosecutors would need to show there was clear meaning to the statement and that would be the clear meaning a recipient would feel, according to Mary Anne Franks, a George Washington University Law professor.
Comey’s social media post is “a very ambiguous statement at best,” she said.
(Source: James Comey, CNN, X)