The wisdom of having the Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, do the Sunday morning talk shows was questionable to begin with. He’s not a media personality, like others favored by Trump, and there is little a prosecutor ought to do on television that wouldn’t be more appropriately done in the courtroom. But that didn’t stop Blanche from taking to the airwaves following his indictment of former director of the FBI and enemy of Trump, Jim Comey. It did not turn out well.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, on Sunday sought to contrast the Justice Department’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey over a social media post with other instances in which people have shared the same message, saying that the department had gathered additional evidence during an 11-month investigation.

Putting aside the inherent question of whether an instagram post of seashells spelling out “86 47” is a crime, the “crime” for which Comey was indicted because Trump, who knows more than the generals which apparently includes attorneys general, says it’s mob lingo for “kill Trump,” the claim that it took an 11-month investigation to arrive at the indictment seems specious. It’s not that an investigation might not come up with something nefarious, like a conspiracy to murder Trump where the posted image was the signal to pull the trigger. Bizarre as that may be, it’s conceptually possible.

But thus far, not an iota of evidence, nor even an empty allegation, suggests any such conduct was unearthed during the 11 months since the image was posted. Let’s be frank, there was nothing to investigate. There was no sordid scheme to unearth. It was about a picture, and only a picture. The deciding factor was solely that it was posted by Comey, and Comey is on Trump’s enemies list. We know this because Blanche said so.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet The Press” whether others who displayed the same numbers, or bought or sold T-shirts with the same message, would face the same prosecution, Mr. Blanche said no.

The “86 47” message, Mr. Blanche said, is “posted constantly — that phrase is used constantly.” He added, “Every one of those statements do not result in indictments.” What makes Mr. Comey’s case different, he argued, is other evidence collected, which he said he could not describe.

The “86 47” message is readily available for purchase, whether on tees or hats, on Amazon. Some of the more virulent Trump supporters offered the similar message of “86 46,” referring obviously to Biden. And yet no one who posted it, sold it, bought it, or worse, is in Blanche’s crosshairs. Just Comey. Only Comey.

“Of course the seashells are part of that case,” said Mr. Blanche, who acknowledged that proving Mr. Comey’s intent would be crucial to his prosecution. “You prove intent with witnesses; you prove intent with documents,” he said, adding that there was “a body of evidence” that led to Mr. Comey’s indictment. The three-page indictment, secured on Tuesday, was focused only on the seashell post.

To overcome a First Amendment defense of Comey’s right to express his disapproval of, and wish to be rid of, Trump would require the Department of Justice to prove that it was a true threat. That would not only require that Comey subjectively intended it to be a true threat, but that a reasonable person would perceive it to be a true threat.

Assuming arguendo that Blanche could get past that hurdle, he would then have to surmount the problems of selective prosecution and vindictive prosecution. This doesn’t mean that Blanche has to prosecute every person who uttered, in whatever fashion, the numbers “86 47,” but that Blanche has to prove that it isn’t just Comey, of all the people who bought or sold tee shirts, because Trump hates Comey and Blanche is doing whatever he can to hold Trump’s favor.

To the extent that the MAGA faithful despise Jim Comey, despite the fact that Trump had him over for dinner at the White House during his first term and sought to keep him on as FBI director if only he would swear fealty to Trump, the nuance of using the United States Department of Justice as Trump’s personal machinery of vengeance against his enemies might not be a matter of much concern. After all, if Trump hates Comey, they must too.

But as far as the law is concerned, vapid claims of secret evidence uncovered in an 11-month investigation won’t overcome the claims of selective and vindictive prosecution. Blanche had the opportunity to cite one fact, one piece of evidence, to distinguish Comey from the myriad of 86ers, and he came up empty.

Had he stayed off the air, perhaps there would still be some basis to believe that there was something found in the course of an investigation that made Comey’s indictment somewhat less ridiculous. But Blanche succumbed to the klieg lights and confessed that “86 47” is “posted constantly,” but only Trump’s enemy got indicted. That’s a wrap.