President Donald Trump called James Comey a “dirty cop” as a trial date was set for the former FBI Director to face criminal charges filed against him.

Trump made the comments alongside an old video he shared on social media of Comey defending himself against allegations that he threatened harm against the president when he posted a photograph of seashells on a beach arranged in the shape of “86 47”. 

The Justice Department filed charges against Comey last month, alleging that “a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

“Does anybody believe this guy??? A Dirty Cop!!!” Trump wrote in the Saturday evening post on Truth Social.  

The comments come as a judge has set a July 15 trial date for Comey to face two criminal charges stemming from the Instagram post he made in May last year. The longtime Trump foe, whom the president fired as FBI Director in 2017 as the agency was investigating possible ties between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign, has denied wrongdoing and framed the charges as political retribution. 

U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan will oversee the trial in North Carolina, and Comey is due in court on June 30 for arraignment, where he is expected to enter a not guilty plea. 

Trump’s DOJ is increasingly investigating political opponents 

The indictment of Comey follows a wave of criminal charges and investigations filed by the Justice Department against Trump’s political rivals during his second term, among them Letitia James, the New York Attorney General who successfully brought a civil fraud case against the Trump Organization, and Adam Schiff, the Democratic senator and former Congressman who previously served as lead manager during Trump's first impeachment. 

The Washington Post reported Saturday that at least six prosecutors have been "demoted or pushed out" of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia due to fallout from the DOJ's efforts to prosecute Comey.

The indictment is the second time Comey has faced criminal charges from the Trump administration. The first, in which he was accused of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding — related to his 2020 Senate testimony about FBI media leaks, was dismissed by a judge. 

In a video posted on his Substack account following the indictment, Comey defended himself against the charges.

“I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” Comey said. “But it’s really important that all of us remember this is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Justice Department is supposed to be.”

Trump railed against Comey for years for his role in investigating the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Trump fired Comey in his first term, and in his second, became vocal about prosecuting him. 

Why was Comey indicted? 

The indictment against Comey relates to an Instagram post from May last year showing seashells arranged to form the shape of “86 47”, alongside the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

According to Merriam-Webster, “86” used in slang means to “throw out” or “refuse service to.” It also notes that it is sometimes used to mean “to kill.” Forty-seven appears to refer to Trump, the 47th President of the U.S. The configuration of numbers has been used by some on social media as a symbol to call for removing Trump from the presidency.

Trump officials and a large number of Republicans characterized the image as an incitement of violence against the President. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem opened a Secret Service investigation into Comey, which led to him voluntarily sitting for an interview. 

In the video posted by Trump on Saturday, a clip from an MSNBC interview in May 2025, Comey said he came upon the shells while walking with his wife and did not understand their meaning. 

“To me as a kid, it always meant to leave a place, to ditch a place,” Comey said. 

After some people pointed out its potential alternative meaning, Comey said he took the post down, adding: “I don't want to be associated with violence of any kind.”

The indictment against Comey alleges that he “consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communication would be viewed as threatening violence.”

“James Comey disgracefully encouraged a threat on President Trump’s life and posted it on Instagram for the world to see,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a press release announcing the charges. “As the former Director of the FBI, he knew full well the attention and consequences of making such a post.”