Joseph Zeszotarski Jr. Joins James Comey’s Defense Team

Former FBI Director James Comey has hired Raleigh attorney Joseph Zeszotarski Jr. To join his legal defense team as he faces a federal indictment accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump.

A court filing indicates that Zeszotarski will represent Comey in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Zeszotarski brings more than 30 years of experience practicing in both state and federal courts to the defense team. According to reporting from WITN, Zeszotarski previously defended Lara Riddick, the former Wake County Register of Deeds, who pleaded guilty to embezzlement in 2018.

Details of the Federal Indictment

The charges against Comey stem from an Instagram post made in May 2025, which has since been deleted. The post featured seashells on a North Carolina beach arranged to form the numbers 86 47.

Federal prosecutors allege that these numbers constituted a coded threat against the 47th president, Donald Trump. The government’s argument relies on the common use of the term 86 as slang meaning to remove or get rid of something. While the term is used in various contexts, officials argue that in this specific instance, it can be interpreted more aggressively.

The indictment asserts that a reasonable recipient could interpret the shell arrangement as a serious expression of an intent to do harm, according to WTVD.

Defense and Legal Arguments

James Comey has denied any wrongdoing regarding the social media post. He previously stated that he did not intend for the post to be violent and noted that he removed the images after learning that some individuals associated the phrase 86 with harm.

The case has sparked a national debate regarding the legal standards for criminal threats and the boundaries of free speech. The central legal question involves whether the coded nature of the post meets the threshold for a criminal threat or if it remains protected expression.

Trial Schedule

A federal judge has scheduled the trial to begin on July 15, 2026.