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Feds Give Update In Controversial Case
The Scoop

Feds Give Update In Controversial Case

Former FBI Director James Comey is facing a federal prosecution stemming from his controversial “86 47” Instagram post, but the potentially consequential part of the case may turn out to be what investigators obtained while building it.

Comey faces two charges connected to the May 2025 post, in which a photograph showed seashells arranged to read “86 47,” an apparent reference to President Donald Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors allege the message constituted a threat against Trump, while a second charge involves an interstate or foreign commerce element.


Comey has disputed the threatening interpretation. After deleting the photograph, he said he had assumed the arrangement was a political message and had not understood it as advocating violence.

That question of intent is likely to be critical.

Recent court records, according to reporting on the case, revealed a text exchange involving Comey and his wife, Patrice, shortly before the Instagram post appeared. The messages reportedly discussed possible meanings of “86.” Additional communications involving a Comey relative have also attracted attention because prosecutors could use them in attempting to establish what Comey understood the phrase to mean before publishing it.


Those communications do not, by themselves, prove that Comey intended a threat. Prosecutors would still have to establish the elements of the charged offenses, and Comey is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless convicted.

But the evidence could complicate any defense based primarily on an innocent misunderstanding of the phrase.

The case has also taken an intriguing turn because of how investigators reportedly obtained some of the evidence.

Investigative reporter Paul Sperry reported that FBI investigators subpoenaed Apple after Comey and his wife did not provide investigators with an original version of the photograph containing potentially relevant metadata. The resulting investigative process reportedly produced text messages that have now become part of the dispute.


That raises a question extending beyond the photograph itself: What else, if anything, was lawfully obtained during the investigation, and what relevance could it have?

Speculation has already turned toward other investigations involving decisions made during Comey’s tenure as FBI director, particularly matters surrounding the bureau's 2016 Trump-Russia investigation. But without public court records establishing that additional material was discovered and is relevant to another investigation, such possibilities remain speculation.

There is nevertheless considerable irony in Comey becoming the target of an investigation in which electronic communications, questions about intent and potentially secondary offenses could assume enormous importance.


Comey led the FBI during one of the most politically contentious periods in the bureau's modern history. The FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation examined possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia, and special counsel Robert Mueller later took over the broader investigation.

Mueller's investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. It did, however, result in prosecutions of several Trump associates for offenses including false statements and financial crimes.


Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and George Papadopoulos were among those prosecuted in cases arising from or connected with investigations during that period. Michael Cohen, whose prosecution arose separately, also became an important government witness in later proceedings involving Trump.

Written by Arthur Higgens - August 24, 2026