Todd Blanche says case against Comey based on more than just Instagram post

The acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, on Sunday defended new criminal charges filed against former FBI head James Comey, insisting that the case was based on more than just an Instagram post from last year. The Department of Justice announced a two-count felony indictment against Comey on Tuesday, charging him in connection with a picture he posted on Instagram last May. The picture displayed seashells on the beach arranged in a formation to say “86 47”. 86 is shorthand for getting rid of something, and Trump allies accused Comey of threatening violence against the president. Comey deleted the post, apologized, and said he didn’t know that’s what the expression meant and condemned violence. Comey has said he is innocent and denies any wrongdoing. Trump has long seen Comey as a political enemy and frequently disparaged him on social media. Legal experts , including conservative allies , have met the new charges with skepticism, seeing it as a thinly-veiled effort to punish one of Trump’s political rivals (a previous criminal case against Comey in Virginia was dismissed last year). Blanche, however, insisted on Sunday there was more to the case. “Rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted,” Blanche said during an interview Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. …