Comey makes court appearance in Virginia after surrendering to federal authorities

Former FBI Director James Comey.

Less than 24 hours after a federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted James Comey for allegedly threatening the life of a U.S. president, the disgraced former director of the FBI surrendered to authorities and appeared at a federal courthouse in, Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday. 

According to CNN, Comey, 65, arrived at the courtroom through a side entrance and exited the same way. The hearing lasted about 10 minutes, and Comey did not speak. He was allowed to leave on his own recognizance. While the disgraced former FBI director had nothing to say in court on Wednesday, he had plenty to say in a video post he made on Substack and titled "Seashells" late Tuesday after the indictment became public.

"I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go," Comey said. "This is not supposed to be how the Department of Justice is supposed to be," he said in the 36-second video. "The good news is we get closer every day to restoring those values," appearing to be counting down President Trump's remaining time in office. Comey made no mention of the federal criminal cases brought against during under the Biden Justice Department in his brief video message. 

A federal grand jury on Tuesday found Comey "knowingly and willfully made a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States" with an Instagram photo he posted last year of seashells on a beach arranged in to spell out "86 47," an image that many interpreted as a threat toward President Trump or a call for his assassination. Comey claimed he didn't realize the image could be seen as a call to violence and deleted the photo amid the backlash.

Trump at the time had been the subject of two assassination attempts, one of which resulted in him taking a bullet to the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The indictment came just days after a third attempt on Trump's life was made in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump took questions from reporters in the Oval Office.

"You know what 86 is?" Trump asked reporters. "It’s a mob term for 'kill him' ... People like Comey have created tremendous danger, I think, for politicians, and others. Comey is a dirty cop."

Comey faces two counts in the case and a total of 20 years in prison if convicted on both counts. Comey's lawyer said Wednesday his legal team would mount a "vindictive prosecution" defense, according to CNBC. Below, watch a clip of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard making the case for Comey's conviction and imprisonment during a Fox News appearance last year.