The seashells-based prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey has been delayed until early 2027, as a judge makes her way through a number of pending motions, including a request by Comey to dismiss the case on grounds that it was driven by President Donald Trump’s animus.
U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan declined to set a trial date in the case against Comey, in which prosecutors say that a photo he posted on Instagram of seashells arranged to spell out “8647” amounted to a threat against the president. The term “86” is widely considered to be restaurant slang for running out of or canceling an item, and 47 is thought to be a reference to the 47th president.
Comey, who has not entered a plea yet in the case, had been set to be arraigned Wednesday at a federal courthouse in New Bern, North Carolina, but Flanagan pushed the arraignment until January.
Comey’s team had asked to delay the case.
“The gravity of the charges, pending motions, and the need to provide defense counsel additional time to prepare for trial promote need for continuance,” Flanagan wrote in an order Friday.
Comey’s extensive legal team has filed numerous motions to dismiss the case, which has come under intense scrutiny from legal experts. Comey’s team contended the prosecution was “not based on a good-faith application of the law to the facts; instead, it effectuates a yearslong campaign by the President to use the criminal process to punish Mr. Comey for his protected speech and because of the President’s deep-seated animosity.”
Comey’s team also spotlighted what it calls the “extreme bias” of a key witness in the seashells case: an estranged associate of the Comeys who said they hoped Comey went to jail.
The lead prosecutor in the case, a rookie federal prosecutor named Matthew Petracca, left the prosecution in May.
