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In an Instagram post, Comey wrote “cool shell formation on my
beach walk” under a picture of seashells that appeared to form
the shapes for “86 47.”
Numerous Trump administration officials, including Noem, said
Comey was advocating for the assassination of Trump, the 47th
president. “DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat
and will respond appropriately,” Noem wrote.
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press,
says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to
refuse service to.” It 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.”
The post has since been deleted. Comey subsequently wrote, “I
posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach
walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize
some folks associate those numbers with violence.
“It never occurred to me,” Comey added, “but I oppose violence
of any kind so I took the post down.”
Comey's original post sparked outrage among conservatives on
social media, with Donald Trump Jr. accusing Comey of calling
for his father’s killing.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel said he was aware of the post
and was conferring with the Secret Service and its director.
James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff for legislative,
political and public affairs, noted that the post came at a
delicate time given that Trump is traveling in the Middle East.
“This is a Clarion Call from Jim Comey to terrorists & hostile
regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels
in the Middle East,” Blair wrote on X.
Comey, who was FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was fired by
Trump during the president's first term amid the bureau’s probe
into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump’s
2016 presidential campaign. Comey wrote about his career in the
best-selling memoir “A Higher Loyalty.”
He is now a crime fiction writer and is promoting his latest
book, “FDR Drive,” which is being released on Tuesday.
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