Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said there was more to the investigation that led to former FBI Director James Comey’s indictment than just his “86 47” seashell social media post.
“Rest assured that the career assistant United States attorneys in North Carolina, the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents that investigated this case didn’t just look at the Instagram post and walk away,” Blanche said.
The second indictment of Comey concerned a since-deleted post he made of a seashell arrangement on a beach that read “86 47” with the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Critics of Comey have seen it as a threatening message toward President Donald Trump, as “86” can be used as a term to nix something, and Trump is the 47th president.
In his comments on NBC’s Meet the Press, Blanche said the investigators looked at much more than the seashell photo to craft the indictment, noting that Comey posted the photo in May 2025 and the indictment was returned in late April 2026.
“I am not permitted to get into the details of what the grand jury heard or found, as you know, but rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted,” Blanche said.
The term “86 47” has been used more widely on the Left and, as NBC’s Kristen Welker pointed out, online stores such as Amazon have sold merchandise including T-shirts, stickers, and hats with the term written on them. Blanche said that individuals should not be indicted just for purchasing or wearing merchandise like that.
“This isn’t about a single incident,” Blanche said. “Of course not. That’s posted constantly. That phrase is used constantly. There are constantly men and women who choose to make threatening statements against President Trump. Every one of those statements do not result in indictments, of course.”
“There are facts, there are circumstances, there are investigations that have to take place,” Blanche continued. “We have charged dozens and dozens of men and women this year with threatening President Trump and others. So this isn’t a new charge we’re bringing.”
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Blanche conceded that “of course” the seashells are “part of” the investigation into Comey, but the indictment was a result of the entire 11-month investigation into the former FBI Director.
The Department of Justice also indicted Comey last year on the basis that he allegedly lied about press leaks to Congress, but the charges were dismissed after a judge found that interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was not serving in her role lawfully.