Former FBI director James Comey will not face a jury in New Bern this summer. On Tuesday, a federal judge agreed to bump his criminal trial into the fall, resetting the start date for Oct. 21 in the coastal North Carolina city. The case centers on a 2025 Instagram photo that prosecutors argue amounted to a threat against President Trump, and the delay gives Comey’s legal team more time to press constitutional challenges they say could end the prosecution before any jurors are sworn in.
Judge approves new schedule
U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan signed off on the new timetable after Comey’s lawyers told the court they plan to file “multiple motions on constitutional grounds” this summer and the government did not object to shifting the calendar, according to WITN. Instead of a summer courtroom showdown, the case is now slotted for the October term in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
What the indictment says
A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment on April 28, charging Comey with violating 18 U.S.C. § 871 (threats against the president) and 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) (transmitting threats in interstate commerce), according to a Justice Department press release. “Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation’s laws,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the announcement. The department also underscored that an indictment is only an accusation and that Comey, like any defendant, is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
The post, Comey's response and reactions
Prosecutors trace the charges to a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47,” a sequence some critics interpreted as a call to “86” the 47th president. The image carried the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk” and was later deleted, reporting shows. Comey has said he understood the shells as “a political message” and did not connect them with violence, and that he took the post down after people raised concerns, according to WOAI. The case has become a partisan flashpoint, with administration officials calling for accountability while legal experts highlight the First Amendment questions baked into the charges.
Pretrial calendar and next steps
Judge Flanagan’s order sets an arraignment for Sept. 30 at the federal courthouse in New Bern and lays out a pretrial schedule that includes motions due July 28 and government responses due Aug. 18, WITN reports. If the court turns down the defense bids to dismiss and the case survives the pretrial fights, jury selection and trial are slated to begin Oct. 21 in New Bern. For anyone tracking the case, the summer briefing schedule will likely decide whether this matter ever reaches a jury next fall.
Background and what to watch
The New Bern prosecution follows a string of recent cases involving political figures that have run into serious courtroom challenges. A prior Virginia indictment related to Comey was thrown out after a judge found that the interim U.S. attorney who brought it had been unlawfully appointed, a twist that has resurfaced in coverage of the current case. Going forward, watch for the defense’s constitutional briefing and any discovery fights the judge has suggested may be “dependent upon discovery yet to be produced by the government,” language reflected in court filings noted by local and national reporting. The proceedings are shaping up as a test of where partisan political expression stops and prosecutable threats begin under existing First Amendment and criminal-threat law.
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