While the former FBI director James Comey has said it did not occur to him that that the numbers “86 47” – which he spotted spelled out in seashells on a beach, and posted on social media last year – could be interpreted as a call to assassinate the president, as many supporters of Donald Trump have claimed, he now faces criminal charges tied to the shells.
On Tuesday, Comey was charged over the picture he posted on Instagram last year. The charges mark the latest instance in which Trump’s justice department has used its power to target the US president’s political enemies.
