President Donald Trump criticized former FBI Director James Comey for putting his life in danger by posting a photo of seashells in the sand that spelled out “86 47,” a phrase that detractors claimed was a call to kill the commander in chief.
Trump was asked on Wednesday during an Oval Office event whether he thought Comey, who was indicted over the post this week, was actually endangering his life over the photo.
“Probably, I don’t know,” Trump said. “Based on what I’m seeing out there, yeah. People like Comey have created tremendous danger for politicians and others. You know, Comey is a dirty cop.”
Comey was indicted for a second time by a grand jury in North Carolina on Tuesday over the picture, which was posted on Instagram last summer. The now-deleted post also included the caption: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
During Wednesday’s White House event, Trump elaborated on the meaning of the message in Comey’s post.
“Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86, you know, in the ’80s, it’s a mob term for kill him,” Trump also said. “You ever see the movies, 86 ’em, the mobster says to one of his wonderful associates, 86 ’em, that means kill him. I think of it as a mob term. People think of it as something having to do with disappearing.”
Comey has released a video on Substack professing his innocence after the indictment.
“Well, they’re back,” Comey said. “This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago.”
JAMES COMEY INDICTED FOR A SECOND TIME
Comey faces two charges, which include “threatening the president in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871(a) and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).”
The first indictment against Comey in September 2025 was over allegations of lying to Congress about leaks to the press. A federal judge dismissed the case based on the fact that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was leading the case, was unlawfully appointed because she was not confirmed by the Senate and had exceeded the allotted number of days in the job.
Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.