Comey perjury allegations resurface online
- President Donald Trump revived his attacks on James Comey after a judge set Comey’s July 15 trial over the “86 47” Instagram post. - The online perjury chatter is partly stale — Comey’s 2025 false-statement and obstruction case was filed, then later dismissed by a judge. - What matters now is the shift from old Russia-probe allegations to a new threat case, which has fueled fresh rumor cycles.
The James Comey story bouncing around online right now is really two different cases getting mashed together. One is old and about whether he lied to Congress in 2020. The other is current and about the “86 47” seashell Instagram post that Trump’s Justice Department says amounted to a threat. The reason the chatter spiked this weekend is simple — a judge set a July 15, 2026 trial date in the newer case, and Trump used the moment to call Comey a “dirty cop.” ### What actually happened this week? A federal judge in North Carolina set Comey’s trial for July 15, with arraignment scheduled for June 30. The charges come from an April 28, 2026 indictment accusing him of threatening President Trump through that May 15, 2025 Instagram image showing “86 47.” Trump then amplified the case on Truth Social, calling Comey a “dirty cop.” (time.com) ### What is the “86 47” case? The indictment says Comey knowingly posted a message that a reasonable person would read as a serious threat against the president. Prosecutors brought two counts — one under the statute covering threats against the president and one under the interstate-threats law. Comey has denied criminal intent and has framed the case as retaliation. (time.com) ### So where do the perjury allegations come in? They come from a separate case filed on September 25, 2025 in the Eastern District of Virginia. That indictment accused Comey of making a false statement and obstructing Congress over his September 30, 2020 Senate testimony about FBI leaks and the Russia-era investigations. That is the source of the “perjury” or “lied to Congress” language people are recycling now. (justice.gov) ### Was Comey actually charged with perjury? Not exactly. The Virginia case, as filed by DOJ, charged a false statement and obstruction — not a standalone federal perjury count. That distinction matters because a lot of posts flatten every allegation into “perjury,” which sounds cleaner and harsher than the actual charging language. (justice.gov) ### What happened to that older case? It appears to have been dismissed. Time’s May 10 story says the 2025 case over false statements and obstruction was thrown out by a judge before this newer North Carolina threat case moved forward. That is why a lot of current posts feel confusing — they talk as if the old allegations are breaking news when the live criminal fight is now the seashell case. (justice.gov) ### Why are rumors getting so wild? Because partisan posts are mixing verified court actions with unsupported add-ons — grand-jury gossip, RICO talk, and recycled Russia-probe grievances. Once a real trial date landed, the rumor mill got a peg to hang everything on. But the concrete facts are narrower than the online version. There is a pending threat case. There was an earlier false-statements case. They are not the same thing. (time.com) ### What is Comey saying now? Comey has been publicly combative. In recent TV comments, he mocked Trump’s fixation on him and cast the prosecution as part of a broader revenge campaign. That helps explain why the social-media fight feels unusually personal — it is not just legal argument anymore, it is mutual antagonism feeding the algorithm. (time.com) ### Bottom line? If you see “Comey perjury allegations resurface,” the clean read is this: the allegations are old, the rumor traffic is new, and the active case is about the “86 47” post — not a fresh perjury indictment. (justice.gov) (thewrap.com)
