EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA — Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Petracca was removed as the lead prosecutor in the case charging former FBI Director James Comey with threatening the president and has since stepped aside from at least three other cases in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Court filings show Petracca was formally removed from the Comey docket and replaced by federal prosecutor Timothy Severo.
According to court documents, Petracca has withdrawn from at least three additional cases since last week. The filings do not specify why he is stepping aside from these matters.
Petracca had been listed as the government’s lead lawyer in the indictment charging Comey with one count of threatening the president’s life and one count of transmitting an interstate threat. The charges stem from a May 2025 Instagram post in which Comey shared a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers “86 47.” Merriam-Webster defines “86” as slang for “throw out” or “get rid of.”
Comey deleted the post and stated he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” In a follow-up message, he wrote that he spotted the seashells during a beach walk and “assumed [they] were a political message.” Comey has denied all wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges. His legal team intends to seek dismissal of the case, arguing it constitutes selective and vindictive prosecution.
Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the case was politically motivated and said it was spearheaded by “local prosecutors” and “local agents.”
Legal experts have criticized the indictment. Perry Carbone, a Pace University professor and former prosecutor, said: “If you can charge somebody for arranging seashells in the sand with an ambiguous message, if that’s a threat, if that’s criminal speech, then the First Amendment is in serious jeopardy.”
The trial in the James Comey case is scheduled for October. Seven months before the North Carolina indictment, the Justice Department attempted to prosecute James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress. A federal judge in Virginia dismissed the earlier indictment against James Comey on the grounds that the prosecutor who led the case was improperly appointed.