Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, on Sunday sought to contrast the Justice Department’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey over a social media post with other instances in which people have shared the same message, saying that the department had gathered additional evidence during an 11-month investigation.
Mr. Comey was indicted last week over a photo that he posted on Instagram in May 2025 of seashells on a beach that spelled out “86 47,” which the department characterized as a threat to the president. The charge was the second attempt by the Justice Department under President Trump to prosecute Mr. Comey and the department’s latest effort to pursue charges against the president’s perceived enemies.
Asked on NBC’s “Meet The Press” whether others who displayed the same numbers, or bought or sold T-shirts with the same message, would face the same prosecution, Mr. Blanche said no.
The “86 47” message, Mr. Blanche said, is “posted constantly — that phrase is used constantly.” He added, “Every one of those statements do not result in indictments.” What makes Mr. Comey’s case different, he argued, is other evidence collected, which he said he could not describe.
“Of course the seashells are part of that case,” said Mr. Blanche, who acknowledged that proving Mr. Comey’s intent would be crucial to his prosecution. “You prove intent with witnesses; you prove intent with documents,” he said, adding that there was “a body of evidence” that led to Mr. Comey’s indictment. The three-page indictment, secured on Tuesday, was focused only on the seashell post.
Mr. Comey has insisted he is innocent and will fight the charges. He has said he did not associate the phrase “86” with violence, and pointed to its origins in the restaurant business, where it has for decades been used to refer to removing something from the menu or throwing out an unruly customer.
Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, appeared later on the show and said there was only thing that distinguished Mr. Comey’s case from other examples of people using the phrase: “the fact that James Comey is a political opponent of the president; it’s the fact that the president has called on him for prosecution; it’s the fact that Todd Blanche wants to keep his job.”
Mr. Schiff called the charges against Mr. Comey “deeply illegitimate” and said he expected the case to be thrown out of court before it ever gets to a jury.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
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