Ex-FBI Director James Comey spoke out for the first time on television since being accused of leveling a threat against President Donald Trump through an Instagram post during the week of May 11. Comey shared a picture of seashells that appeared to display the numbers “8647.” Some within Trump’s inner-circle accused Comey of calling for the killing of the president by displaying the number “86,” which the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as “to get rid” of something and the number “47,” referencing Trump as the 47th president of the United States.
What did Comey say?
During an interview with MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace on Monday, May 19, Comey said his post was not a threat against the president, rather something he and his wife found “clever” and that they found the use of “86” referred to a common restaurant term used to inform staff when a food item is no longer available or to “leave a place.”
“We stood over it and I said, ‘I think it’s some kind of political message,’ and she said ‘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,’” Comey told Wallace.
“And I said, ‘Well, to me, as a kid, it always meant to leave a place, to ditch a place.’” Comey added, “I said, ‘That’s really clever.’ So then she said, ‘You should take a picture of that.’ And I did, and posted it to my Instagram account and thought nothing more of it.”
What was Comey’s initial response to the negative reaction?
Comey said he was surprised when he saw the reaction to his post. “I heard through her people that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination, which is crazy,” he said. “But I took it down. Even if I think it’s crazy, I don’t want to be associated with violence of any kind.”
Comey said his social media post was “totally innocent,” but regretted “the distraction and controversy around it.”
Comey met with the Secret Service
The ex-FBI director went on to explain how he believes he’s become a target of the Trump administration through audits and acknowledged he talked with the Secret Service about the post.
“I got a call from the Secret Service that night asking if I would speak to them about it,” Comey said. “Of course, I admire the Secret Service. They’re pros. I spoke with them on the phone. Then they asked the next day, when I got home, would I be willing to come in and meet them in person at the Washington field office, which again, I did, and they were pros again.”
As Straight Arrow News recently reported, following Comey’s post on Friday, May 16, some within the Trump administration accused Comey of promoting violence against the president. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also said that Comey “should be in jail” over the picture. Some Republicans also called for Comey to be arrested and his house raided over the post.
Comey responded to his critics’ comments, particularly Gabbard, after Wallace played a clip of the director’s call for the ex-head of the FBI’s arrest.
“I hope people know enough about that particular person that they understand where it’s coming from,” said Comey. “It says something more depressing about the leadership of our current administration. And I just shrug because that’s ridiculous.”
Comey’s tense relationship with President Trump
Comey was fired by Trump back in 2017, after his first administration determined he failed to thoroughly investigate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for classified information, though Trump later said it was also tied to the Russia probe.
Comey has since become a critic of President Trump and released a book shortly after his termination, criticizing Trump’s leadership during his first term in office. Comey also endorsed Trump’s opponent in the 2024 presidential election, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
contributed to this report.
