Comey says it’s ‘crazy to think’ controversial Trump post ‘was a threat’

Former FBI Director James Comey is breaking his silence, speaking on camera for the first time

about the Instagram post that sparked accusations from Trump allies of promoting violence against

the president. The post featured seashells arranged in the numbers 8-6-4-7, which some

interpreted as a coded threat. The number 86 is sometimes slang for get rid of, and 47 is a

reference to Trump as the 47th president. But Comey says the post was innocent, just something

he and his wife saw while walking on the beach. He said she recognized 86 as a restaurant term

from her time as a server, meaning a dish that's no longer available. Here's Comey explaining the

moment to MSNBC. We stood over it and I said, you know, I think it's some kind of like political

message. And she said, you know, 86 when I was a server, she did a lot of work in restaurants

meant to remove an item from the menu when you ran out of ingredients. And I said, well, to me

as a kid, it always meant to leave a place, to ditch a place. I said, that's really clever

So then she said, you should take a picture of that. And I did. And I posted it on my Instagram

account and thought nothing more of it until I heard through her that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination which is crazy But I took it down I don even if I think it

crazy, I don't want to be associated with violence of any kind. Comey says he regrets the controversy

but stands by the post as, quote, totally innocent. He also revealed he was contacted

by the Secret Service and met with agents in person. He called the interaction professional

and routine. The Post, made last Friday, quickly drew backlash. Some of President Trump's closest

allies accused Comey of inciting violence. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

went as far as to call for his arrest. Others demanded his home be searched. Comey called

those claims ridiculous and said the reaction speaks more about today's political climate than

his Post. Comey and Donald Trump have a long history. President Trump fired Comey in 2017

initially citing his handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. Donald Trump later admitted it was also due to Comey's role in the Russia investigation

Since then, Comey has become a vocal critic of Trump, publishing a book and endorsing former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election

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