Ex-FBI head James Comey turns himself in at Virginia courthouse

James Comey, a former FBI director and a strong Trump critic, surrendered himself to the authorities on Wednesday in the Eastern District of Virginia after earlier indicating he would turn himself in, according to CNN.

The arrest follows a firestorm over a cryptic post Comey shared last year, prompting a federal grand jury in North Carolina to indict him.

MAGA anger over Comey's Instagram post

The three-page indictment, which is now deleted, shows "86 47" numbers written on seashells on a beach with the caption, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."

Prosecutors and allies of Trump state the post constituted a threat to the president, citing '86' slang meaning "get rid of something" and '47' as an oblique reference to the 47th president.

Charges against the former FBI director include one count of threatening the president and successors and one count of sharing a threat in interstate commerce.

However, this is not the first time Comey has faced an indictment. 

Last year, he faced charges of allegedly lying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020.

"I know that Donald Trump will probably come after me again, and my attitude is going to be the same," he said at the time.

"I'm innocent. I am not afraid, and I believe in an independent federal judiciary -- the gift from our founders that protects us from a would-be tyrant."

Aside from the legal battle, the phrase has been adopted by Trump's critics, according to the New York Times, as a way to register their protest.