Former FBI Director James Comey will go on trial in October over a photo he posted of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” The number is believed to mean removing President Trump.
U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan set Oct. 21 as the trial date.
“Taking defendant’s request and the government’s lack of opposition into account, the court finds that the ends of justice served by granting the requested continuance and setting arraignment for September 30, 2026, outweigh the best interests of the public and defendant in a speedy trial,” the order reads. “The gravity of the charges, anticipated further discovery production to defendant, and the need to provide defendant time to file motions based upon same promote need for continuance. Implicit in the government’s reported statement of no opposition here is the government’s agreement that the ends of justice served by this continuance, for direct benefit of defendant, outweigh the interests of the public in a speedy trial.”
“In accordance with the foregoing, arraignment is set at 10:00 a.m. September 30, 2026, at New Bern. Upon not guilty plea, jury trial shall commence at New Bern October 21, 2026, at 9:00 a.m,” the order adds.
After removing the 2025 seashell post, Comey wrote, “I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
He also told MSNBC that he and his wife encountered the shell arrangement during a beach walk and saw it as a clever visual pun. “We stood over it and I said, ‘I think it’s some kind of political message.’” Comey said his wife explained that during her time working in a restaurant “86” meant to “remove an item from the menu when you ran out of ingredients,’” he claimed.
