北卡罗莱纳州的一个联邦大陪审团起诉前美国联邦调查局导演詹姆斯·科米，原因是他去年在Instagram上发布了一条有争议的帖子唐纳德·特朗普他的政府成员声称这是对总统的威胁。
司法部检察官去年在一名法官面前提起了此案，继续努力起诉特朗普的长期对手之一扔出以不相关的罪名起诉科米。
新的起诉书集中在一个争议，爆发了近一年前，当科米，在一个已删除的Instagram帖子分享了一张照片，上面显示了用贝壳写在海滩上的数字“86 47”，标题是“我在海滩散步时形成的酷贝壳。”总统的盟友引用俚语“86”的意思“nix”或“摆脱”某物，声称该帖子是对第47任总统特朗普的含蓄威胁。
在短短三页的起诉书中，科米面临一项威胁总统和继任者的指控，以及一项在州际商业中传播威胁的指控。
检方在起诉书中表示，该帖子构成了一种威胁，任何“熟悉情况的合理收件人都会将其解读为意图伤害美国总统的严重表达。”
“我没有任何改变，”科米在网上发布了对起诉书的回应，呼应了他在去年之前的起诉书被驳回后所说的话。“我仍然是无辜的，我仍然不害怕，我仍然相信独立的联邦司法机构，所以我们走吧。”
“但非常重要的是，我们所有人都要记住，这不是我们作为一个国家的样子，这不是司法部应该有的样子，好消息是，我们每天都在接近恢复这些价值观，”他补充道。“保持信念。”
美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)率先报道了一份起诉书已经提交。
在宣布指控的新闻发布会上，代理司法部长托德·布兰奇认为，科米的帖子越过了第一修正案保护的言论和值得起诉的言论之间的界限。
布兰奇说:“这不是一条很难看的线，在我看来，也不是一条很难跨越的线，不管是哪种方式。”“我们不能，你不允许威胁美利坚合众国的总统。那不是我的决定。这是国会的决定，也是他们通过的一项法令，我们一年要收取多次费用。”
当被问及社交媒体帖子本身以外的证据时，布兰奇声称已经进行了“大量的调查”，但没有详细说明证据显示了什么。
“那你怎么证明意图呢?在任何情况下，你都要向证人、文件、被告本人证明意图，在适当的程度上。这就是我们在本案中证明意图的方式，”布兰奇说。
布兰奇一再坚持寻求起诉的决定，称政府将“永远不会容忍”并“起诉任何违反联邦法律的人，无论其头衔或地位如何。”
然而，其他人使用了“86”命名法，包括民主党密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默在2020年接受电视采访时，在她身后的桌子上放了一个数字“86 45”的小雕像，以及保守派评论员杰克·波索比克发布了一条推文乔·拜登总统任期内的“86 46”，最近在保守党政治行动会议上采访了布兰奇。
检察官可能会面临很高的法律门槛，以证明Instagram帖子构成了“真正的威胁”，最高法院在2023年发现，这需要证明个人明白他们的信息会被视为威胁。随着特朗普政府的抗议者越来越多地采用“86 47”这个短语，该案可能会对第一修正案产生深远影响。
去年被问及该职位时，特朗普建议科米应该因该职位受到起诉，特朗普声称这是一个“暗杀总统”的呼吁。
”他完全知道这意味着什么。一个孩子知道那意味着什么。如果你是美国联邦调查局导演，你不知道那意味着什么，那意味着暗杀。川普去年对福克斯新闻频道说:“这一点非常清楚。
当时，特朗普表示，他将把指控科米的决定留给时任司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)，尽管他坚称科米是一名“坏警察”。
“当你加上他的历史...他是个坏警察。如果他有清白的历史，我可以理解是否有宽大处理，但我会让他们做出决定，”特朗普说。
在帖子遭到强烈反对后，科米从Instagram上删除了这张照片，并表示他不知道帖子可能与暴力有关。
“我早些时候贴了一张我今天在海滩散步时看到的一些贝壳的照片，我以为这是一个政治信息。我没想到有些人会把这些数字和暴力联系在一起。我从来没有想过，但我反对任何形式的暴力，所以我撤下了这个帖子，”科米在5月15日说。
该帖子迅速招致特朗普政府和白宫工作人员的批评描述帖子“深切关注”和国家情报总监塔尔西·加巴德呼吁监禁科米。
“在我看来，詹姆斯·科米应该为此负责，并被关进监狱，”加巴德告诉福克斯新闻频道。
科米去年因涉嫌向国会撒谎和阻挠2020年在美国参议院司法委员会作证而被起诉。科米的律师提出驳回起诉，认为该案件是出于政治动机，大陪审团从未看到完整的指控，该案件是最终被驳回关于起诉此案的检察官的合法性问题。
“我知道唐纳德·特朗普很可能会再次追杀我，我的态度也会一样，”科米在去年11月前一份起诉书被驳回后发布到社交媒体的视频中说。“我是无辜的。我不害怕，我相信一个独立的联邦司法机构——这是我们的缔造者给我们的礼物，保护我们免受未来暴君的侵害。”
新的起诉书出台之际，司法部最近几周加大了对特朗普一些案件的调查力度被视为政敌的人代理司法部长托德·布兰奇(Todd Blanche)在特朗普驱逐帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)后领导司法部。
本月早些时候，司法部撤销了一项顶级职业检察官消息人士告诉ABC新闻，她对匆忙对前中情局局长约翰·布伦南提出刑事指控表示担忧，之后在佛罗里达州进行了一次有争议的调查。
检察官也在4月获得起诉针对南方贫困法律中心-经常被保守派批评他们对仇恨团体的评估-银行欺诈和洗钱犯罪有关的支付线人渗透到这些团体。该组织否认有任何不当行为。
James Comey indicted again, this time over seashell Instagram post
A federal grand jury in North Carolina has indicted former FBI Director James Comey over a controversial Instagram post from last year that PresidentDonald Trumpand members of his administration claimed was a threat against the president.
Renewing efforts to prosecute one of Trump's longtime adversaries, Department of Justice prosecutors brought the case after a judge last yearthrew outan indictment against Comey on unrelated charges.
The new indictment centers on a controversy that erupted nearly a year ago when Comey, in asince-deleted Instagram post, shared a picture showing the numbers "86 47" written in seashells on the beach with the caption "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."Citing the slang meaning of "86" as to "nix" or "get rid" of something, allies of the president allege that the post was a veiled threat against Trump, who is the 47th president.
As outlined in the short, three-page indictment, Comey faces one charge of threats against the president and successors, and one charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.
Prosecutors in the indictment say the post constitutes a threat that any "reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States."
"Nothing has changed with me," Comey posted online in response to the indictment, echoing what he said after the previous indictment was thrown out last year. "I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary so let's go."
"But it's really important that all of us remember this is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be and the good news is we get closer every day to restoring those values," he added. "Keep the faith."
CNN was first to report an indictment had been handed up.
At a press conference announcing the charges, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that Comey's post crossed the line between First Amendment-protected speech and speech that warrants prosecution.
"It's not a very difficult line to look at, and it's not, in my mind, a difficult line for one to cross over, one way or the other," Blanche said. "We cannot, you are not allowed to threaten the President of the United States of America. That's not my decision. That's Congress's decision, and a statute that they passed that we charge multiple times a year."
Asked about the evidence in the case beyond the social media post itself, Blanche claimed there's been a "tremendous amount of investigation" but did not elaborate on what the evidence showed.
"And how do you prove intent? In any case, you prove intent with witnesses, with documents, with the defendant himself, to the extent, to the extent it's appropriate. And that's how we'll prove intent in this case," Blanche said.
Blanche repeatedly stood by the decision to seek the indictment, saying the government would "never tolerate" and "prosecute anyone who violates federal law, regardless of title or status."
Others, however, have used the "86" nomenclature, including Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who appeared during a 2020 television interview with a small figurine of the numbers "86 45" on a table behind her, and conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, whoposted a Tweetwith "86 46" during Joe Biden's presidency and recently interviewed Blanche at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Prosecutors will likely face a high legal bar to prove that the Instagram post constituted a "true threat," which the Supreme Court in 2023 found required showing an individual understood their message would be perceived as threatening. With the phrase "86 47" increasingly adopted by protesters of the Trump administration, the case could carry sweeping implications for the First Amendment.
When asked about the post last year, Trump suggested that Comey should be prosecuted over the post, which Trump alleged was a call "for the assassination of the president."
"He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear," Trump told Fox News last year.
At the time, Trump said he would leave a decision about charging Comey to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, though he insisted that Comey was a "dirty cop."
"When you add his history to that ... he's a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency, but I'm going to let them make that decision," Trump said.
Following backlash over the post, Comey removed the photo from Instagram and said he was unaware that the post could be associated with violence.
"I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down," Comey said on May 15.
The post drew swift criticism from the Trump administration, with White House staffdescribingthe post "deeply concerning" and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard calling for Comey to be imprisoned.
"James Comey in my view should be held accountable and put behind bars for this," Gabbard told Fox News.
Comey was indicted last year on unrelated charges for allegedly lying to Congress and obstruction related to his testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. Comey's lawyers moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing the case was politically motivated and that the grand jury never saw the charges in their entirety, and the case wasultimately dismissedover issues with the legitimacy of the prosecutor who brought the case.
"I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again, and my attitude is going to be the same," Comey said in a video posted to social media after the previous indictment was thrown out in November. "I'm innocent. I am not afraid, and I believe in an independent federal judiciary -- the gift from our founders that protects us from a would-be tyrant."
The new indictment comes as the Department of Justice in recent weeks has ramped up investigations of some of Trump'sperceived political foesunder Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is heading up the Justice Department following Trump's ouster of Pam Bondi.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice removed atop career prosecutorfrom a controversial investigation in Florida after sources told ABC News that she had expressed concerns about a rushed effort to bring criminal charges against former CIA Director John Brennan.
Prosecutors in April alsosecured an indictmentagainst the Southern Poverty Law Center -- frequently criticized by conservatives for their assessment of hate groups -- for bank fraud and money laundering offenses related to its paying of informants to infiltrate such groups. The organization has denied all wrongdoing.
