FBI Director Kash Patel might have just violated critical rules around grand jury secrecy at a press conference announcing the new indictment of his predecessor James Comey, a legal expert flagged on Tuesday.
Comey, who was already indicted for allegedly making false statements to Congress — only for that charge to be dropped because the DOJ’s prosecutor was improperly appointed — is now charged with making threats against President Donald Trump, because he posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell “8647” — the implication being that Trump, the 47th president, should be “86ed.”
“James Comey allegedly threatened the life of the President of the United States,” said Patel in the clip. “And as you all know, shortly after posting that threat, he deleted that threat and then issued an apology. All of that information was presented to the grand jury, and Mr. Comey will have his day in court and his ability to speak to a jury of his peers.”
Lawfare’s Anna Bower, however, couldn’t help notice a major anomaly in Patel’s remarks.
“In this clip, Kash Patel says the grand jury heard evidence that Comey deleted the ‘8647’ post and apologized. Neither fact appears in the indictment,” she posted to X. “Hmm. Did the FBI director just disclose evidence presented before a grand jury?”
This indictment, which comes after years of Trump publicly attacking Comey for his role in the Russia investigation and meddling behind the scenes to try to secure criminal charges against him, has been widely blasted as an abuse of power and violation of the First Amendment by legal experts, as the phrase “to 86 someone” is frequently used in politics and generally taken to mean removing them from power, not committing violence against them.
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