INDICTED AGAIN: Former FBI Director James Comey is facing a new criminal indictment over a social media post he made last year that the Trump administration alleges amounted to a threat against the president.
The two charges of threatening Trump come from a post that Comey made last May of a picture of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers 86-47. As “86” is commonly used slang for removing or throwing out someone or something and Trump is the 47th president, Trump argued at the time that Comey was calling for his assassination.
Comey said at the time that he presumed the shells were a “political message” but didn’t realize the numbers could imply violence. He took the post down.
The charges continue the legal saga that has dogged Comey for months. He became the first prominent foe of the president to be indicted during Trump’s second term when he was first charged in September.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused him of making false statements before Congress and obstruction over testimony he gave in 2020 about leaks within the FBI. That indictment was dismissed in November after a federal judge found that the prosecutor who brought the case was improperly appointed.
The DOJ has appealed that ruling.
Comey responded to the latest indictment in a short video posted on Substack, declaring, “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,” he said. “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.”
The charges also come as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has taken leadership of the DOJ and has been seen as auditioning for the permanent role. He took over after Trump fired his predecessor, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, earlier this month, reportedly in part over frustration at a lack of progress in prosecutions against his political adversaries.
▪ The Hill: Comey says indictment is ‘not who we are as a country.’
▪ Politico: Maurene Comey’s lawsuit over her DOJ firing can proceed.
CALL FOR UNITY: King Charles III advocated for international cooperation during his address to Congress on Tuesday, emphasizing shared values between the U.S. and U.K. amid recent tensions between the two allies.
The king received mostly bipartisan acclaim throughout the speech, with members of both parties giving him standing ovations on multiple occasions.
Charles’s speech came as Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer have clashed over the Iran war. But the king, often seen as a unifying figure, focused mostly on the countries coming together, coming off the “bitter divisions” of more than two centuries ago.
“I pray with all my heart that our alliance will continue to defend our shared values, with our partners in Europe and the Commonwealth, and across the world, and that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking,” he said.
One point of the speech in which a partisan split was seen came when Charles addressed a “shared responsibility to safeguard nature.” He has long been an advocate for environmental causes.
Democrats quickly stood and cheered Charles’s words, while Republicans mostly stayed seated.
Charles had earlier met with Trump in a private meeting, after which the president called the king a “fantastic person.”
▪ The Hill: White House posts ‘two Kings’ photo.
▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Charles’s address, meeting with Trump.
FACING THE HEAT: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will field questions amid rising frustrations from Republican lawmakers today and tomorrow as he makes back-to-back appearances on Capitol Hill.
Hegseth will appear alongside Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine for what will be his first testimony under oath since the war with Iran started in late February. He will testify before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
Hegseth and Caine will push for the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget request from Congress. But Hegseth will likely face scrutiny from members of his own party over the uncertainty around the Iran war and his ousting of top Defense Department officials, The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell reports.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum have expressed concerns about Hegseth’s recent firings of Army chief of staff Randy George and Navy Secretary John Phelan. Lawmakers have also been alarmed by Hegseth’s growing tensions with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
Some Senate Republicans losing confidence in Hegseth have even said they would like the administration to “move on” from Hegseth, but they said it’s the president’s decision.
▪ The Hill: Senate committee argues defense spending will boost economy.
▪ The Hill: Pentagon asks Congress to codify ‘Department of War.’
FCC VS ABC: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered a review of the local television station licenses owned by ABC in a significant escalation of the administration's feud with major broadcast networks.
The FCC's announcement comes amid calls from the president and first lady Melania Trump for ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke he made last week that Melania Trump had the "glow" of an "expectant widow." The joke received backlash days later after the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
The agency said in a filing Tuesday that it was launching the review based on an investigation into ABC's diversity, equity and inclusion practices. The licenses for the impacted stations were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031 and cover affiliates in major media markets, including New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Disney, ABC's parent company, said in a statement that it is prepared to show it has continued to meet the qualifications for licenses through the "appropriate legal channels."
The New York Times noted that taking away stations' right to broadcast is difficult, as the government must show stations have shown a pattern of violating rules. And an attempt by the FCC to revoke the licenses would likely result in a legal battle that could take years.
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