Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday forcefully denied that the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey was a bid to secure the permanent job as the nation's top law enforcement officer, and he rejected any suggestion that President Trump directed the Department of Justice to pursue the case.
In an interview with CBS Mornings host Major Garrett, Blanche was asked directly whether the charges against Comey—stemming from an Instagram post of seashells arranged to read "86-47"—amounted to an audition for the attorney general nomination. Blanche responded, "I don't even know what that means," and insisted, "This is not an audition." He noted he has served as deputy attorney general for over a year and was not seeking to prove himself through the indictment.
The Justice Department alleges that the seashell post, which Comey later deleted and apologized for, was interpreted by a reasonable recipient familiar with the circumstances as a serious expression of intent to harm Trump. The slang "86" means to discard or eliminate, and the number 47 refers to Trump as the 47th president. Comey faces two counts of making threats against the president.
Blanche emphasized that the investigation predated recent events, saying, "This is something that has been investigated for nearly a year now, and the results of that investigation is that a grand jury returned an indictment." He rejected Garrett's framing that the prosecution was "warped to carry out a political agenda," stating, "Absolutely, positively not, and there's no suggestion that that's the case."
Garrett pressed Blanche on why the DOJ did not charge far-right activist Jack Posobiec for a similar 2022 post that read "86 46," apparently referencing former President Biden. Posobiec never apologized or removed his post, while Comey did both. Blanche dismissed the comparison, arguing that each grand jury investigation is unique and that the department does not simply look at a single image to decide on charges. "That's just completely not true," he said. "They do an investigation… Every investigation is different."
Comey has denied any wrongdoing and said the post carried no political message. In a video after the indictment was unsealed, he declared, "I'm still innocent… So let's go." Trump has previously claimed that "a child knows what that meant" and called the post an assassination threat.
The case has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and legal analysts, with some warning it sets a dangerous precedent for free speech. Rep. Jamie Raskin called the indictment "surreal" and a political vendetta, while former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe dismissed it as a DOJ misstep driven by Trump's desire for retribution. Legal scholar Jonathan Turley cautioned that the charges could trap prosecutors in a free speech quagmire.
Blanche, who served as Trump's personal attorney before becoming deputy attorney general in late 2024, insisted the indictment was a routine product of DOJ work. "We return indictments across the country every day," he said. "The American people know that."
