The DOJ Just Indicted James Comey Again and His Beach Walk Excuse Is Not Going to Save Him
Only days ago, a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner with a shotgun, two handguns, and a written manifesto targeting Donald Trump.
Now the Justice Department just indicted the man who posted a coded message that Trump himself said was a call for his assassination.
James Comey thought posting a death code in seashells was clever – and a federal grand jury just indicted him for it.
Comey's 8647 Instagram Post and the Seashell Story That Got Him Indicted
In May 2025, the disgraced former FBI director posted a photo to Instagram of seashells arranged on a North Carolina beach.
The shells spelled out "8647."
His caption: "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."
Tulsi Gabbard called it immediately on Fox News.
"We've already seen assassination attempts," Gabbard told Fox News. "I'm very concerned for his life. And James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was just as direct, announcing the Secret Service would investigate what she called a call "for the assassination" of the president.
The Secret Service hauled Comey in for a hours-long interview.
He deleted the post the same day and claimed he "didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence."
Nobody bought it.
Gabbard pointed out the obvious: Comey spent his career prosecuting the mob – men who used "86" as a verb for killing people – and he wants America to believe he stumbled onto that number combination by accident on a beach walk.
Donald Trump Jr. said it plainly: Comey was "calling for my dad to be murdered."
Trump himself told Fox News Comey "knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant."
Comey's Second Federal Indictment and the Case That Was Thrown Out
This is not the first time Comey has faced federal charges since Trump returned to office.
The DOJ first came after him in September 2025 on counts of lying to Congress and obstruction – tied to Senate testimony he gave in 2020.
A federal judge threw that case out in November after ruling the prosecutor who brought it, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully installed as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Comey walked out of that dismissal with a warning on his own lips: he told supporters he fully expected Trump to come after him again.
He was right.
This new indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina – the same state where Comey took his famous beach walk.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has driven the renewed push, accelerating DOJ action on cases the president has long demanded.
Trump Assassination Attempts and Why the DOJ Came After Comey Now
Cole Tomas Allen traveled by train from California to Washington, D.C., with a shotgun, a handgun, multiple knives, and a written plan to target Trump and his Cabinet.
That happened Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.
Comey got indicted Tuesday.
Trump has survived at least five serious assassination attempts and security breaches since 2024 – including the Butler shooting that grazed his ear and killed a supporter, the Ryan Routh rifle incident at his Florida golf course, and Saturday's attack.
The left spent years telling anyone who would listen that Trump was a threat to democracy.
Meanwhile, it's been their side loading the guns and buying the train tickets.
Comey posted "8647" while that climate was building – while Trump's supporters were already on edge from two near-misses in 2024.
https://twitter.com/beyondreasdoubt/status/2049213941050400779
Senator Mike Lee had it exactly right when he condemned the post at the time, writing that it "hits too close to home – and occurs too soon after two serious, nearly successful assassination attempts – to be dismissed as a joke or harmless hyperbole."
Now the DOJ agrees.
The man who weaponized the FBI against Trump – who launched the Russia investigation, who got fired for it – is now staring down a second federal indictment for what he posted from his beach house.
James Comey spent his career putting men behind bars for exactly this kind of thing.
Now it's his turn.
Sources:
- David Spunt, "James Comey Indicted Again in New Justice Department Probe," Fox News, April 28, 2026.
- Sean Moran, "Report: Justice Department Indicts Former FBI Director James Comey for Second Time," Breitbart, April 28, 2026.
- Martha McHardy and Shane Croucher, "Tulsi Gabbard Says James Comey Should be Jailed for '8647' Post," Newsweek, May 16, 2025.
- Ryan J. Reilly and Monica Alba, "James Comey Indicted Over Seashell Photo That Officials Said Threatened Trump," NBC News, April 28, 2026.
- Staff, "Trump is No Stranger to Assassination Attempts: A Look Back at Past Security Incidents," Fox 11 Los Angeles, April 27, 2026.
