The Justice Department has secured a new indictment against former FBI Director James B. Comey, reviving its pursuit of criminal charges after a previous case collapsed last year, Newsmax has confirmed.
The latest indictment marks another turn in the department's efforts to bring charges against Comey, a longtime target of President Donald Trump.
The specific charges were not immediately clear, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN, and Comey's attorneys declined to comment.
However, other sources told The New York Times that the case stems in part from a social media post nearly a year ago, when Comey, vacationing on the North Carolina coast, shared a photo of seashells arranged to read "86 47."
The DOJ has not yet commented on the latest indictment or issued a statement.
The phrase combined slang often used to mean to dismiss or remove, with a reference to Trump, the nation's 47th president.
Administration officials and members of Trump's family said the message could be interpreted as a threat, asserting that "86" meant to kill and that the post amounted to a call for violence against the president.
The Secret Service tracked Comey's movements as he traveled from North Carolina to his home in Northern Virginia after the image circulated.
Comey later deleted the post, saying he was unaware of any violent connotation and that he opposed violence.
He was interviewed by the Secret Service by phone and in person, telling agents he had no intent to harm the president. The Justice Department initially dropped the matter before reviving it in recent months.
The renewed indictment follows an earlier effort in September, when prosecutors charged Comey with lying to Congress and obstructing an investigation tied to testimony he gave in 2020 regarding disclosures to the press.
That case was brought after Trump replaced the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, after career prosecutors determined that the evidence did not support charges.
A federal judge dismissed that indictment in November, ruling Halligan's appointment violated federal law because it bypassed Senate confirmation requirements.
A separate indictment she secured against New York Attorney General Letitia James was also dismissed on the same grounds.
Despite those setbacks, the administration has continued pursuing cases against individuals Trump has publicly criticized, including Comey, whom the president has repeatedly accused of playing a role in what he has described as the "weaponization" of the justice system against him.
The effort has gained momentum under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has accelerated actions tied to the president's priorities since taking over the role.
The new indictment comes less than a month after Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing frustration with the department's handling of high-profile matters, including the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the pace of cases involving Trump's political adversaries.
Comey, who was dismissed by Trump in 2017 after the FBI opened an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, has since been a vocal critic of the president and remains a central figure in ongoing political and legal disputes involving the administration.
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