Former FBI director James Comey charged with threatening Trump's life

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with threateningthe life of US President Donald Trump, an indictment that stems from an imagehebriefly shared on social media last year.

The charges relate to an image Comey posted on Instagram last year that showed seashells forming the numbers "86 47". "Eighty-six" is a slang term used to mean "eject" or "remove".

Comey has insisted he did not know what the numbers on the image meant, but Trump and other administration officials have said the post was a threat against the 47th president.

The justice department had earlier brought charges against Comey in September, accusing him of lying to Congress over press leaks.

A federal judge dismissed that case two months later, saying that the interim federal prosecutor who brought the charges was improperly appointed.

The BBC has contacted Comey's attorney for comment. The White House has referred inquiries to the DOJ.

"While this case is unique, and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute," acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday.

Both felony counts against Comey carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

US Secret Service agents interviewed Comey last May about the seashell photo.

Comey deleted the Instagram post, saying in a follow-up that he "assumed [the sea shells] were a political message".

"I didn't realise some folks associate those numbers with violence," he added. "It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."

Trump, who has long criticised Comey, said of the post that "a child knows what that meant".

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in late September on charges that he lied to Congress during testimony in September 2020 and obstructed a congressional proceeding.

The indictment came days after Trump called on the country's top law enforcement official to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries, including Comey.

Comey pleaded not guiltyduring a brief court appearance in October before the case was dismissed in November.

US District Judge Cameron Currie tossed the indictment against Comey because of prosecutor Lindsey Halligan's "invalid" appointment as US attorney.

Halligan, the prosecutor in eastern Virginia who secured the indictments, was not authorised to present the charges to the grand jury, the judge said.Halligan is a former White House aide who had never prosecuted a case before.

The judge, however, left the door open for the government to try again.

Comey acknowledged that possibility after the ruling, saying he believes Trump "will probably come after me again."

Comey was fired by Trump during his first term after leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Since then, he has been a frequent target of the two-term US president.

Earlier on Tuesday, a separate judge ruled that former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey - James Comey's daughter - can move forward with her case challenging her firing by the Trump administration.