Former FBI director James Comey has appeared in a federal court in Virginia, a day after being indicted over a social media post that prosecutors allege threatened US President Donald Trump.
Mr Comey turned himself in on two charges, including threatening the life of the president and transmitting threats across state lines.
He did not speak during a brief court appearance.
His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said he would argue that the case is a vindictive prosecution, meaning that it was brought to punish his client for exercising his legal rights.
The judge ordered the release of Mr Comey and did not impose any special conditions.
His next court appearance is expected in North Carolina, where a federal grand jury returned the indictment yesterday.
Mr Comey has said that he is innocent and will fight the accusations in court.
The indictment marks a renewed push by the US Department of Justice to target perceived political enemies of the president with criminal prosecution.
Last year, Mr Trump referred to Mr Comey by name in a social media post calling for criminal charges against his adversaries.
The charges relate to a post that the former FBI director made on Instagram last May of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers "86 47".
The number 86 is a slang term originating in the restaurant industry that can mean to "get rid of" or throw someone out, while 47 is a possible reference to Mr Trump as the 47th US president.
The indictment alleged that a reasonable recipient of the message would interpret it as a threat to the leader.
Mr Comey deleted the post shortly after it was published, saying he viewed it as a political message and was not aware that the numbers were associated with violence.
Watch: Comey rejects Trump threat charge: 'I'm still not afraid’
He responded dismissively to the charges.
"Well, they're back this time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago, and this won't be the end of it," Mr Comey said in a video statement posted on social media.
"I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go."
A previous case against the former FBI director, a longtime enemy of President Trump, accused him of lying to the US Congress. It was dismissed by a federal judge.
For years, Mr Trump has attacked Mr Comey for his role in overseeing an FBI investigation into alleged ties between his first presidential campaign and Russian officials in 2016.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has moved quickly to carry out President Trump's demands for criminal cases after his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was ousted, in part, for not moving fast enough on them.
Since Mr Blanche took over the position in April, the Department of Justice has brought criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, released a report alleging misconduct in prior prosecutions of anti-abortion activists, and indicted a former National Institutes of Health official for allegedly concealing records related to Covid-19 pandemic research.
