Former FBI Director James Comey has surrendered Wednesday to law enforcement at federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, according to a person familiar.
As he surrenders to law enforcement, he will be placed under arrest ahead of his first appearance in court. His hearing lasted less than 10 minutes.
Comey is charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to court documents.
He said in a video message on Substack Tuesday that he is “still innocent.”
The charges were brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but Comey’s first appearance is in the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse. Judge William E. Fitzpatrick is expected to be on the bench.
Tuesday’s indictment is centered on a picture Comey posted on social media last May, of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47.” He wrote in the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Almost immediately following his post, Republicans and administration officials began criticizing Comey for what they said amounted to a death threat against President Donald Trump.
When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out. Trump is currently the 47th president.
Comey’s indictment comes as Blanche has picked up the pace in bringing cases that the president has publicly jockeyed for.
“This is not going anywhere. This is clearly not a punishable threat,” Eugene Volokh, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who specializes in First Amendment law, told CNN Tuesday.
This is the second time that Trump’s Justice Department brought charges against Comey.
In September of last year, the Justice Department first brought charges against Comey, accusing him of lying to Congress over leaks to the press.
The case was dismissed late last year by a federal judge who found that the interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had been improperly appointed, having skirted approval from the Senate.
