First Thing: Former FBI director James Comey indicted over Instagram seashells post

Good morning. The justice department filed new criminal charges against James Comey , the former FBI director, on Tuesday. In what appears to be the latest instance of the justice department using its power to target the president’s political enemies, Comey was charged over a picture he posted on Instagram last year while on vacation, showing seashells arranged to say “86 47”. Comey said he had not realized the numbers were associated with violence. Photograph: Instagram The post was read as a threat to Donald Trump, the 47th president, as the number 86 can be used as shorthand for getting rid of something. He captioned the image: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Comey then deleted the post and apologized, saying he had not realized the numbers were associated with violence. “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he wrote on Instagram. What has he been charged with? Two felonies: making a threat against the president, and transmitting that threat, via social media, across state lines. What does the indictment say? That the seashell numbers were something a reasonable person “would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States”. And how about Comey? He published a video of himself saying : “Well, they’re back. This time, about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me. I am still innocent. …