Former FBI Director James Comey was escorted from his home by Secret Service agents for questioning regarding a social media post that Republicans claimed was inciting violence toward President Donald Trump. Comey’s cryptic post allegedly called for the assassination of Trump.
CNN aired footage of 64-year-old Comey leaving his suburban Virginia home and making his way to the Secret Service’s Washington field office shortly before 6 p.m. on Friday. The questioning is part of an ongoing investigation under the Trump administration and aims to help investigators determine the purpose and intent behind the post — specifically, whether Comey meant to issue a threat against the president, something he has strongly denied.
Comey in Troubled Waters
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Trump said on Friday that the decision to press charges against Comey would rest with Attorney General Pam Bondi, though it’s difficult to legally prove that a comment or social media post carries a direct threat of violence.
The Secret Service called the interview with Comey a standard procedure of investigating any remarks that might be interpreted as threatening.
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The controversy centers on an Instagram post Comey made on Thursday, where he captioned a photo of seashells with the phrase “cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The shells appeared to form the numbers “86 47.”
According to Merriam-Webster, “86” is slang for actions like “getting rid of,” “removing,” or “to refuse service.” The dictionary also notes, “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”
Several officials in the Trump administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, claimed that Comey was calling for the assassination of Trump, the 47th president.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the bureau is “in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran,” adding, “Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
Inviting Trouble
The post was taken down on Thursday shortly after it was shared but the damage was already done. Comey, who launched the probe into alleged ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign — a case based on the now-discredited Steele dossier — claimed he “didn’t expect” the post would be interpreted by some as promoting violence.
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey said in a statement, posted on Instagram. ” I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”
“It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
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While campaigning for re-election, Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet skimmed his ear.
Two months later, another would-be assassin hid himself in the bushes near the president’s golf course in Palm Beach, Florida, carrying a rifle while Trump was playing golf. The suspect’s plan to shoot and kill the then-Republican presidential candidate was thwarted when a vigilant Secret Service agent noticed the rifle and fired at the man.
Just a few months later, authorities uncovered and stopped another assassination plot linked to Iran.
