Donald Trump broke his silence after former FBI Director James Comey was stunningly indicted for making threats against the President. The ex-FBI boss surrendered to law enforcement on Wednesday morning after he was charged with threatening Trump's life in an old Instagram post the day before.
The May 15, 2025, social media post at the center of the case showed seashells on the seashore spelling out '8647,' which amounts to a threat against the President's life, according to prosecutors.
'Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86, it's a mob term for "kill him,"' Trump said in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon, addressing the charges for the first time. 'The mob uses that term to say, when they kill somebody, they say "86 that son of a gun" ... They use another term, but that's a mob term for killing,' Trump explained.
Pressed on whether the post made him fear for his life, Trump said 'Probably, I don't know.'
The phrase 86 generally refers to removing or getting rid of. 47 refers to Trump being the 47th President. Past postings of the numerals by other political figures are now being resurfaced in light of the Comey case. For instance, prominent conservative commentator Jack Posobiec is being confronted about his post '8646' in January of 2022.
Comey surrendered on Wednesday at a federal courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he was taken into custody ahead of his initial court appearance. He faces two federal charges: threatening the President and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The two counts combined carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Comey declared his innocence in a video message on Substack. 'I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go,' he said. The ex-FBI Director posted the photo with the caption: 'Cool shell formation on my beach walk.' He later deleted the post on the same day he published it and apologized.
'People like Comey have created tremendous danger, I think, for politicians and others,' Trump said on Wednesday. 'Comey is a dirty guy. He's a very dirty guy. He cheated on the elections.'
The Justice Department says Comey 'knowingly and willfully' made threats against the President's life and allegedly transmitted a threat via social media. 'You cannot threaten to kill the President of the United States. Full stop,' said Blanche on Tuesday at a press conference announcing the charges.
This is the second indictment brought by the DOJ against Comey as Trump and his allies seek to prosecute the 'dirty cop.' Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia last fall on two counts: making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, related to his 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony. A federal judge dismissed the indictment in November, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed. Blanche's push to indict him comes a month after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, for failing to pursue his perceived enemies aggressively enough. Trump accidentally posted a message on Truth Social in September, pressuring Bondi to prosecute his political enemies, including Comey.
