In a stunning new development in the ongoing political clash between former FBI Director James Comey and former President Donald Trump, federal prosecutors have brought a second indictment against Comey, multiple US law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News, the US affiliate of the BBC. This new round of legal action centers on a seemingly innocuous Instagram post Comey shared last year, which has sparked fierce political controversy. The post featured a collection of seashells arranged to spell out the numbers ’86 47′, a pairing that Trump and his allies have framed as a veiled threat against the 47th US president. The specific details of the latest charges have not been made public as of press time, but sources familiar with the matter confirmed they are directly tied to the viral seashell photograph. Comey has repeatedly maintained that he had no prior awareness of the political and cultural connotations attached to the numbers. After facing widespread backlash, he deleted the post and issued a clarification, noting that he recognized the arrangement of shells amounted to a political statement, but had no idea that the phrase ’86 47′ was associated with violent calls for Trump’s removal. He stressed that he opposes all forms of political violence and removed the content out of an abundance of caution. For his part, Trump has dismissed Comey’s explanation, arguing that the meaning of the post is obvious even to a child. This is not the first time Comey has faced federal prosecution. Back in September of last year, a grand jury handed down an initial indictment that accused Comey of making false statements to Congress during his 2020 testimony and obstructing a congressional investigation. That indictment came just days after Trump publicly pressured the Department of Justice to ramp up investigations into his political opponents, with Comey explicitly named as one of the top targets. Comey entered a plea of not guilty, and just two months after the initial charges were filed, a federal judge threw out the entire case. US District Judge Cameron Currie ruled that the interim lead prosecutor on the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been improperly appointed to her role as interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A former White House aide who had never previously led a criminal prosecution, Halligan lacked the legal authority to bring the charges before the grand jury, Currie found. Even as she dismissed the case, the judge did not bar prosecutors from refiling charges at a later date, an outcome Comey correctly predicted in remarks after the ruling, when he noted that Trump would likely target him again. The US Secret Service first opened an inquiry into the seashell post last May, when agents interviewed Comey about the content and context of the share. The latest indictment marks a significant escalation in what has become one of the highest-profile legal confrontations between a former president and one of his most vocal critics. It also renews questions about the perceived politicization of the Department of Justice under the current administration, after the initial case was widely criticized by legal observers for its irregular appointment process and perceived ties to Trump’s political agenda.