Former FBI Director James Comey will go on trial in October over a photo he posted of seashells, provided the Trump administration’s case against him survives forthcoming legal challenges.
In an order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan set Oct. 21 as a trial date in Comey’s case, which revolves around a photo he posted on Instagram showing seashells in the formation of “8647.” A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted Comey in April, alleging that the seashell image was “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” Restaurant veterans have said “86” is “everyday lingo” that can mean an item has run out or should be removed from the menu.
The trial date had originally been set for July, but the schedule was pushed back after Comey’s team requested more time last week, writing that some of their arguments “may require extensive briefing.”
Comey and his team plan to file motions to dismiss the case based on the argument that it is a product of vindictive and selective prosecution, among other arguments. Flanagan noted Comey’s plans in her order Tuesday.
If the case survives the expected motions to dismiss, Comey would appear for an arraignment on Sept. 30 at the federal courthouse in New Bern, North Carolina.
Comey’s team has already beaten back one federal case against him in the Eastern District of Virginia, with a judge finding that Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan was never properly appointed as interim U.S. attorney when she went before a federal grand jury last year.
The Trump administration has faced unprecedented setbacks before federal grand juries, including a federal grand jury’s rejection of the administration’s attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a social media video. Last week, a federal judge in Chicago lambasted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois for its actions in a case against anti-ICE protesters in which federal prosecutors were accused of improperly influencing the grand jury.
Pretrial motions in Comey’s case are due July 28, and responses to those motions are due Aug. 18. Replies to pretrial motions are due no later than Sept. 1.
