Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Former FBI Director James Comey posted a controversial photo, sparking investigations.
- The post's numbers "86 47" were interpreted as a threat to President Donald Trump.
- FBI, DHS and Secret Service are investigating; Utah Sen. Mike Lee reacted strongly on social media.
WASHINGTON — Former FBI Director James Comey posted a photo on Thursday of beach shells and stones arranged in the shape of "86 47," which many have denounced as a cryptic message calling for President Donald Trump's assassination or removal.
While its origin is unclear, "86" is restaurant and military slang meaning to remove, discontinue or kill something; and "47″ may refer to Trump's second presidency, being the 47th president of the United States.
After an initial blowup online, Comey posted a subsequent Instagram post, saying, "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 associated those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."
An investigation spanning several departments ensues
Current FBI Director Kash Patel announced that his department is in communication with the Secret Service over Comey's social media post "directed at President Trump" on X Thursday evening.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem added in her own X post that the DHS is investigating Comey's post as well.
Noem appeared on Fox News Thursday night, saying she believes Comey "should be held accountable and put behind bars for this."
"The rule of law says people like him, who issue direct threats against the president of the United States, essentially issuing a call to assassinate him, must be held accountable under the law," she said.
Given Comey's career and influence, Noem said she's "very concerned for the president's life," adding, "We've already seen assassination attempts."
Utah Sen. Mike Lee says the post left him 'speechless'
In an X thread posted Thursday evening, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, described his first interactions with Comey over two decades ago as inspiring, and adding that "never in million years did I imagine that he would one day post an encoded 'kill Trump' message — referring the sitting president of the United States — on social media."
Comey visited Utah's U.S. attorney's office in 2003, when Lee was working there as an assistant U.S. attorney.
"Then-Deputy Attorney General Comey gave a phenomenal presentation to our office that my colleagues and I found not only interesting and informative, but downright inspiring," Lee wrote.
Comey encouraged the staff in Utah to "stay grounded and remember all that's good and worth defending in life," Lee said.
Lee added that he and his colleagues left the meeting feeling "uplifted and inspired."
"I'd love to believe that Jim Comey didn't post that — that someone was impersonating him, that he didn't fully understand what he was saying, or that '8647' in this context had some other, less-threatening meaning," Lee wrote on Thursday. "But as far as I can tell, this was his post, he hasn't disavowed it and it means exactly what it appears to mean."
Lee then encouraged people on both sides of the aisle to "avoid and discourage the use of signaling that some could far too eagerly accept as an invitation for yet another assassination attempt on the life of the president of the United States."
