Opinion

JONATHAN TURLEY: Comey’s shell post may be crass, but charging him is a free speech trap

The '86 47' shell image was crude political speech, not a true threat under Supreme Court precedent

By Jonathan Turley Fox News

Published April 28, 2026 7:53pm EDT | Updated April 28, 2026 7:55pm EDT

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James Comey indicted over ‘86 47’ social media post, accused of threats against Trump

Fox News correspondent David Spunt reports on the Justice Department’s charges against former FBI Director James Comey over an ‘86 47’ social media post allegedly threatening President Donald Trump on ‘Special Report.’

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In the last year, coverage of former FBI Director James Comey appears to be reverting to the level of a high school yearbook. Last March, we were discussing how Comey channeled Beyoncé in a classified meeting and then may have revealed a code name in an encore performance for family. Now we are back to discussing Comey's beach shell art on social media.

The latter controversy is now at the heart of a second criminal indictment of Comey. In November, a court dismissed the first indictment for false statements after a challenge to the status of the acting U.S. attorney.

However, this indictment is being brought in North Carolina, the location of the beach where the offending shells were found. Comey will now likely create a new category of protected shell speech.

The problem with this indictment will be the merits. The indictment concerns an image that was later removed by Comey showing "86 47" in shells on a beach. Comey has a rather odd history of drawing inspiration from shells. This message, however, had a lethal twist since many interpreted the message as essentially calling for the killing or "86-ing" of Trump.

Legal questions are emerging over whether expected charges against former FBI Director James Comey would withstand a First Amendment challenge. (Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via........

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