Things are not looking great for former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey after he made a post on Instagram that many conservatives claim was a coded call by him for someone to “assassinate” President Donald Trump. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard was particularly willing to sound off on Comey, saying he should be locked up.
For reference, on Thursday, May 15, Comey posted a picture on Instagram that showed seashells formed in the numbers “86 47.” “86,” which otherwise would make no sense in this context, is a call sign and code word for getting rid of something or murdering someone, which in this case appears to mean assassinating the president, who is often referred to as “47” because he is the 47th president. Captioning the post, which has since been deleted, Comey said,”Cool shell formation on my beach walk…”
After deleting the initial post, Comey claimed to be ignorant of the meaning, 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 associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
DNI Gabbard appeared on Jesse Watters’s show on Fox News Channel, “Jesse Watters Primetime,” shortly after the post exploded online on Thursday night and said that Comey and his team “need to be held to account according to the law.” She added, “The rule of law says people like him who issue direct threats against the POTUS, essentially issuing a call to assassinate him, must be held accountable under the law.”
Further, DNI Gabbard said she is quite worried about the safety of President Trump, given the past attempts on his life, and thinks Comey needs to be locked up. She said, “I’m very concerned for the president’s life; we’ve already seen assassination attempts. I’m very concerned for his life and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”
Watch DNI Gabbard call for Comey’s arrest here:
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Other members of the Trump Administration chimed in as well. FBI Director Kash Patel, for instance, wrote, “We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
Similarly, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich wrote, “While President Trump is currently on an international trip to the Middle East, the former FBI Director puts out what can clearly be interpreted as “a hit” on the sitting President of the United States—a message etched in the sand. This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously.”
Budowich added, in a follow-up post, “It’s worth noting this assassination threat follows President Trump historic Saudi speech where he declared the demise of the neocons and nation builders. American leadership has been restored and peace is on the horizon. This has left the Deep State desperate and dangerous—Comey is only the latest and most disturbing example of them lashing out through threats of violence. Democrats must condemn these threats, not stoke them. We will remain vigilant and unafraid.”
Featured image credit: By Pete Souza – P061216PS-0013, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49408640