Former FBI Director James Comey surrenders and appears in court over alleged threat against Trump
Originally Published: 29 APR 26 12:56 ET
Updated: 29 APR 26 13:13 ET
By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Former FBI Director James Comey surrendered Wednesday to law enforcement at federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.
He was briefly placed under arrest ahead of his first appearance in court. The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes.
Comey is charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to court documents.
He said in a video message on Substack Tuesday that he is “still innocent.”
The charges were brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but Comey’s first appearance was in the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse. Judge William E. Fitzpatrick was on the bench.
Comey entered and exited the courtroom through a side entrance used by defendants. He wore a dark suit and did not speak during the hearing.
Comey was allowed to leave without conditions for his release. No plea was entered Wednesday.
“I don’t see why they’d be necessary this time,” Fitzpatrick said.
Comey’s attorneys told the judge they plan to file motions accusing the Justice Department of selectively and vindictively prosecute their client.
No date has been set for Comey’s arraignment or first appearance in North Carolina, where the charges were brought.
The US Attorney from the Eastern District of North Carolina, Ellis Boyle, was in the courtroom Wednesday.
Boyle will be overseeing this case as it moves to the federal court in New Bern, NC.
Tuesday’s indictment is centered on a picture Comey posted on social media last May, of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47.” He wrote in the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Almost immediately following his post, Republicans and administration officials began criticizing Comey for what they said amounted to a death threat against President Donald Trump.
When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out. Trump is currently the 47th president.
Comey’s indictment comes as Blanche has picked up the pace in bringing cases that the president has publicly jockeyed for.
The new case represents a reinvigorated effort to satisfy Trump’s demands to investigate his own foes, including Comey, who he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to “weaponize” the justice system against him.
It also comes less than a month after the president dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump had for weeks complained that Bondi was not aggressive enough in executing his agenda.
“This is not going anywhere. This is clearly not a punishable threat,” Eugene Volokh, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who specializes in First Amendment law, told CNN Tuesday.
This is the second time that Trump’s Justice Department brought charges against Comey.
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 who found that the interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had been improperly appointed, having skirted approval from the Senate.
This story was updated with additional information from the hearing.
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