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2w ago

Judge Delays James Comey Arraignment to January 2027

Pending defense motions over whether the seashells post counts as a 'true threat' must be decided before the case proceeds.

James Comey speaks to the media after testifying before the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform committees joint investigation on Dec. 7, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 19: Author James Comey, former FBI Director, speaks at the Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025 in New York City. Comey sat with Esposito to discuss his career and new book "FDR DRIVE," the third of a series of fictional crime novels featuring attorney Nora Carleton. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
FILE - Former FBI Director James Comey, arrivex to testify under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey at Harvard University's Institute of Politics' JFK Jr. Forum in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Overview

  • A federal judge moved Comey’s arraignment to January 2027 and declined to set a trial date, issuing an order filed Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, that cited the need to resolve outstanding motions.
  • Comey was indicted in April on two federal counts alleging he threatened President Donald Trump and transmitted a threat in interstate commerce based on a 2025 Instagram photo of seashells arranged as “86 47.”
  • Defense lawyers have filed multiple motions asking the court to dismiss the indictment for lack of a true threat and for vindictive or selective prosecution and also seek grand jury materials and a Franks hearing.
  • Prosecutors say an objective viewer could read “86 47” as a call to kill President Donald Trump while the defense points to ordinary uses of “86” as restaurant slang and argues the post is protected speech.
  • The schedule delays and unresolved legal questions leave Comey unarraigned in North Carolina, raise broader First Amendment and prosecutorial discretion issues, and mean the judge’s rulings on the motions will shape whether the case goes to trial.