Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says an 11-month investigation produced "a body of evidence" that supports the federal indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, which improbably charges him with publicly threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump. That evidence, Blanche said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press last Sunday, goes beyond the May 15 Instagram post at the center of the case, which shared a photograph of seashells arranged in the sand to form the message "86 47"—a common expression of opposition to the president.
Although Blanche declined to specify the nature of that additional evidence, he said it would prove the "intent" required to convict Comey. That seems highly doubtful, especially when it comes to the first count in the indictment, which charges Comey with violating 18 USC 871 by "knowingly and willfully" making "a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States."
