Comey, the former FBI director, asked a judge to cancel his scheduled appearance in federal court in Greenville, North Carolina, arguing that he had already surrendered in Virginia and been before a judge there in the same case. His court request came as the case moves through early procedural steps tied to a criminal indictment that prosecutors say involves a threat directed at President Donald Trump.
According to the filing described in court reporting, Comey’s lawyers said the Monday appearance was unnecessary because he has already appeared in Virginia, where he lives. The Justice Department joined in supporting the request. The judge overseeing the case indicated she would grant the cancellation only if Comey filed a waiver of appearance on or before Friday.
The underlying prosecution stems from a two-count indictment issued last week. Prosecutors allege that Comey “knowingly and willfully” communicated a threat to Trump by posting an Instagram photo of seashells arranged in the numerical pattern “86 47.” The case frames “86 47” as a reference to Trump’s position as the 47th president and ties the number to a meaning prosecutors say constitutes a threat.
Comey has said the seashell arrangement reflected a political message rather than a call to violence. He also told the court that he found the image on a beach and that he removed the post after he saw that some people interpreted it as a threat. Legal experts cited in the reporting have said the government faces a high legal standard in proving that Comey intended the Instagram post to function as a threat, not merely as a political or coded reference.
The request to cancel the North Carolina appearance marks a step in the same prosecution that has already prompted prior court proceedings, including an earlier federal court episode in which legal questions arose in a separate matter. That earlier unrelated prosecution accusing Comey of making a false statement to Congress was dismissed by a judge who concluded that the prosecutor who filed the case was illegally appointed. With the new threat case moving forward, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said investigators have evidence beyond the Instagram post itself, though he did not elaborate on the nature of that additional evidence.
The reporting also notes interpretive context for the term at the center of the case. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says “86” is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to,” and it adds that a more recent sense includes “to kill,” a meaning Merriam-Webster says it does not adopt due to relative recency and limited use. As the case proceeds, prosecutors and the defense will continue to argue over what the pattern meant and what Comey intended when he posted it.