A new federal judge has now been assigned to oversee the criminal case involving former FBI Director James Comey, setting the stage for a closely watched legal battle with political implications already drawing national attention.
The case stems from charges brought after the U.S. Department of Justice expanded its actions against Comey in late May. A federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned an indictment in April tied to a controversial social media post, which prosecutors allege crossed a serious legal line.
According to the indictment out of the Eastern District of North Carolina, Comey is accused in connection with an Instagram image featuring seashells arranged in the pattern “86 47.” Prosecutors argued the image represented “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”
