Administration

Ty Cobb: New Comey indictment ‘classic revenge’

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by Sophie Brams - 04/29/26 9:11 AM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 04/29/26 9:11 AM ET

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Former White House attorney Ty Cobb on Tuesday criticized the Justice Department’s (DOJ) latest indictment against former FBI Director James Comey as “vindictive prosecution,” saying he expects it to be dismissed.

“It’s specious. It’ll be thrown out. It’s classic, you know, revenge,” Cobb, who served in President Trump’s first administration, said during an appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Out Front.”

“It’s a document that really isn’t worth anything other than the PR that the president is trying to get to intimidate Comey and others … who might speak out against him,” he added.

The DOJ unveiled a fresh indictment against Comey earlier Tuesday, which stems from a photo posted last May of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Federal prosecutors claimed the cryptic photo constituted a direct threat against Trump, the 47th president.

The former FBI chief is facing two charges, according to the unsealed indictment.

“Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Over the past year, this department has charged dozens of cases involving threats against all sorts of individuals.”

Cobb pushed back on the notion, arguing there was not enough evidence to support the government’s position.

“It’ll be dismissed, and in part, it’ll be dismissed because there just is no evidence that would suggest any reasonable person would have taken this seashell picture and thought it was a death threat to the president,” he said, adding he thought it was “absurd” to equate the case with serious threats of assassination, murder or violence.

Comey deleted the photo from social media last year after critics, including Trump, interpreted it to be a threat against the president’s life. The former FBI director said he was unaware that the numbers could carry a violent connotation, believing it was a “political message.”

“Well, they’re back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina Beach a year ago, and this won’t be the end of it,” Comey said in a Tuesday video responding to the new indictment. “But nothing has changed with me.”

“I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go,” he added.

The term “86” is widely used as slang to mean to get rid of, discard or to refuse service to someone or something — similar to the term “nix.”

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“You could, you could replace 86 with impeach the president, and it would have no more violent effect than 86 does,” Cobb contended.

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