WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department brought criminal charges against James Comey on Tuesday for a second time, accusing the former FBI director of threatening President Donald Trump by posting a photo of shells arranged to show the numbers “86 47.”
The charges, brought in the federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, accuse Comey of threatening the life of the U.S. president and transmitting a threat across state lines.
The case relates to an Instagram post Comey published last May while vacationing in North Carolina showing the arrangement of shells. In U.S. parlance, the number 86 can be used as a verb meaning to throw somebody out of a bar, while 47 could be seen as code for Trump, the 47th president.
The indictment marks a renewed push by Trump’s Justice Department to target perceived political enemies of the president with criminal prosecution.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has moved quickly to carry out Trump’s demands for criminal cases after his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was ousted in part for not moving fast enough on them.
