House

Raskin: Comey charges ‘surreal and absurd’

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/29/26 9:50 AM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/29/26 9:50 AM ET

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Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Tuesday called the new indictment charges against former FBI Director James Comey “surreal and absurd.”

Comey’s second indictment is connected to a social media photo he posted last May of several seashells on a beach in North Carolina arranged to form “86-47.” The Department of Justice (DOJ), referring to the post, announced the same day that Comey faces two counts of making threats to harm President Trump.

“I mean, the charges here are just surreal and absurd,” Raskin said on MS NOW’s “All In with Chris Hayes.” “But of course, from the perspective of the person who’s obviously calling the shots and proudly calling the shots under the unitary executive theory of the Justice Department in America, you know, it’s not important whether or not the grand jury either, you know, indicts or doesn’t indict or whether the court throws it out or doesn’t throw it out or the person is convicted or not.”

Raskin questioned why these charges were being issued now, calling it “odd for somebody to threaten the life of the president and for nobody to notice for half a year, or something like that.”

“Look Chris, I think every reasonable person left in America understands that this is not an act of law enforcement and justice,” Raskin said. “This is an act of political vendetta, and the Department of Justice has been turned into an instrument of political revenge against President Trump’s perceived foes.”

The Maryland Democrat later added that the new charges will “occupy” Comey’s time and financial resources, and that “occupying other people’s time and space, that’s all [Trump] cares about.”

“It’s not like he’s got some program for America he’s working on, like he’s focused in the same way on trying to get health care to everybody or lower the price of groceries, or lower the price of gasoline, or end the war that he just unleashed on the world in Iran,” Raskin added. “He’s focused on Mr. Comey and what happened at the beach nine months ago.”

Last May, Trump accused Comey of knowing “exactly” what the post allegedly meant, that it was a call for his assassination.

The DOJ on Tuesday interpreted the seashell arrangement as something that “a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

The phrase “86” is commonly used as slang for removing or throwing out something or someone. Comey later clarified that he assumed the shells were a “political message,” but he said he didn’t realize the numbers could be associated with violence. He added that he opposes all forms of violence and deleted the post.

Comey denied any wrongdoing and declared his innocence in a short video clip posted to Substack on Tuesday.

The indictment was announced two days after a shooting erupted at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which Trump attended for the first time between his two presidencies. A 31-year-old California man, Cole Allen, was charged in connection with an attempt to assassinate the president.

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