A North Carolina federal judge is poised to cancel former FBI Director James Comey’s second court appearance after his attorneys argued he already made an initial appearance in a related federal case.
Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 to 2017, was indicted last week over a social media post prosecutors allege carried threatening implications toward President Donald Trump.
Comey’s lawyers asked the court to cancel Friday’s scheduled hearing in North Carolina, arguing that he had already appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, in connection with the same alleged threats. In a filing, the defense said federal criminal procedure rules provide “for an initial appearance in the singular.”
U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, a former President George W. Bush appointee, said she would cancel the hearing if Comey submitted a waiver by Friday morning. If no waiver was filed, the hearing would proceed as scheduled.
In their motion, Comey’s attorneys said he was willing to sign “any necessary waiver to give the Court additional comfort if the Court so desires.” Comey later filed the waiver with the support of the Department of Justice.
A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted Comey over a now-deleted Instagram post that showed shells arranged to spell out “86 47,” alongside the caption: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Trump allies and other critics interpreted the message as a threat against the president, as “86” is slang for “get rid of” and “47” refers to Trump as the 47th president. Comey has denied wrongdoing and has not yet entered a plea.
Comey is charged with threatening to kill a president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to the indictment. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The case marks the second criminal prosecution Comey has faced since Trump returned to the White House.
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In September 2025, Comey was indicted on separate charges alleging he lied to Congress about leaks to the press.
Trump and Comey have had a contentious relationship since Trump fired him as FBI director in 2017, a move that later became a central focus of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.