A court filing shows attorney Joseph Zeszotarski Jr. will be part of Comey's defense team in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Zeszotarski has more than 30 years of experience practicing in federal and state courts.
The charges stem from a now-deleted Instagram post in May 2025 showing seashells on a North Carolina beach arranged to form the numbers "86 47."
Federal prosecutors allege the numbers amounted to a coded threat against Trump, the 47th president. According to the indictment, a "reasonable recipient" could interpret the post as a "serious expression of an intent to do harm."
The term "86" is commonly used as slang meaning to remove or get rid of something, though officials argue it can also be interpreted more aggressively in certain contexts.
Comey has denied wrongdoing, previously saying he did not intend the post to be violent and removed it after learning some people associated the phrase with harm.
The case has drawn national attention and debate over free speech and whether the message meets the legal standard for a criminal threat.
A federal judge has scheduled the trial to begin July 15.