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BlueWaveNeverEnd

(14,809 posts) Mon May 4, 2026, 01:38 AM 23 hrs ago

Acting attorney Gen Blanche Says Others Who Post '86 47' Message Won't Be Charged Like Comey

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/us/politics/blanche-comey-indictment-seashells.html

Blanche Says Others Who Post ‘86 47’ Message Won’t Be Charged Like Comey

The acting attorney general said such messages were “posted constantly” and said the Justice Department had gathered other evidence against the former F.B.I. director, but declined to describe it.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, on Sunday sought to contrast the Justice Department’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey over a social media post with other instances in which people have shared the same message, saying that the department had gathered additional evidence during an 11-month investigation.

Mr. Comey was indicted last week over a photo that he posted on Instagram in May 2025 of seashells on a beach that spelled out “86 47,” which the department characterized as a threat to the president. The charge was the second attempt by the Justice Department under President Trump to prosecute Mr. Comey and the department’s latest effort to pursue charges against the president’s perceived enemies.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet The Press” whether others who displayed the same numbers, or bought or sold T-shirts with the same message, would face the same prosecution, Mr. Blanche said no.

The “86 47” message, Mr. Blanche said, is “posted constantly — that phrase is used constantly.” He added, “Every one of those statements do not result in indictments.” What makes Mr. Comey’s case different, he argued, is other evidence collected, which he said he could not describe.

9 replies

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Acting attorney Gen Blanche Says Others Who Post '86 47' Message Won't Be Charged Like Comey (Original Post) BlueWaveNeverEnd 23 hrs ago OP

Well if he cant describe it to the courts either -nor provide it SSJVegeta 22 hrs ago #1

Blanche Meet the Press statement will definitely oasis 17 hrs ago #2

It won't get to a jury Jersey Devil 15 hrs ago #4

As a lawyer this makes no sense to me Jersey Devil 15 hrs ago #3

As I understand it the threshold is GreatGazoo 13 hrs ago #9

So, he is explicitly stating that Bettie 15 hrs ago #5

Blanche is a good enough lawyer to not want Johonny 14 hrs ago #6

A search of Comey's home turned up a super-soaker, 5 magnifying glasses for burning ants ... usonian 13 hrs ago #7

I suspect this will be thrown out rather quickly. nt mcar 13 hrs ago #8

SSJVegeta

(2,991 posts)

1. Well if he cant describe it to the courts either -nor provide it

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 01:44 AM

22 hrs ago

It really doesnt make his case any different

oasis

(53,860 posts)

2. Blanche Meet the Press statement will definitely

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 07:25 AM

17 hrs ago

be played to the jury.

Jersey Devil

(10,849 posts)

4. It won't get to a jury

Reply to oasis (Reply #2)

Mon May 4, 2026, 08:52 AM

15 hrs ago

The indictment will be tossed.

Jersey Devil

(10,849 posts)

3. As a lawyer this makes no sense to me

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 08:49 AM

15 hrs ago

If Comey was indicted for threatening Trump and the act specified as the threat was posting 8647, is Blanche saying 8647 is normally NOT a threat but that other acts by Comey somehow transformed it into a threat? How can someone be indicted for performing a specific act and then be convicted by proving he committed another, totally different act?

Can someone be convicted of let's say a bank robbery by proving he cheated on his income taxes? Total bullshit.

GreatGazoo

(4,661 posts)

9. As I understand it the threshold is

Reply to Jersey Devil (Reply #3)

Mon May 4, 2026, 11:24 AM

13 hrs ago

1. makes a credible threat, and/or
2. "recklessly" encourages others who have the means and inclination to carry out the act.

Being Attorney General gives the message a different meaning. Just like if the county sheriff tweeted "F' the Speed Limit" because he is the person who would prosecute or not prosecute the crime he is encouraging.

The Supreme Court held in 2023 that criminal prosecutions based on threatening communications require the government to prove that the speaker had “some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements.”

But prosecutors need only prove that the speaker was “reckless,” meaning they “consciously disregarded a substantial risk” that the message would be viewed as threatening violence.

“I think it would be hard for them — very hard for them — to prove that James Comey intended this to be a threat,” Loeb said. “So, what they would try to show is that … when he posted this, he did so with kind of recklessness as to whether others would see this as a threat.”

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5859963-justice-department-evidence-comey-case/

Bettie

(19,811 posts)

5. So, he is explicitly stating that

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 09:04 AM

15 hrs ago

this is a selective prosecution.

Guess that gives Comey's defense team a good string to pull on....actually, a thick rope that holds the whole thing up.

Johonny

(26,475 posts)

6. Blanche is a good enough lawyer to not want

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 09:40 AM

14 hrs ago

To argue this case, so he appears to be laying out the evidence to get it tossed and save him the time. Meanwhile he is being a performing monkey for micropenis and his demented fuckfeast.

usonian

(26,274 posts)

7. A search of Comey's home turned up a super-soaker, 5 magnifying glasses for burning ants ...

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 11:04 AM

13 hrs ago

120 copies of "Hillary Clinton is the Whore of Babalon, and not human."
by Tracy Twyman

And a membership plaque from the Landover Baptist Church (1)

(satire, I think)

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church

mcar

(46,271 posts)

8. I suspect this will be thrown out rather quickly. nt

Reply to BlueWaveNeverEnd (Original post)

Mon May 4, 2026, 11:04 AM

13 hrs ago

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