DHS and Secret Service probe Comey’s shell post amid accusations of inciting violence

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The former Director of the FBI is under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service for an Instagram post he made this week showing the numbers 86 and 47 in a shell formation.

86 means to get rid of something, and Donald Trump is the 47th President.

In the now-deleted post, Comey commented, ”Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

In a subsequent post, he wrote:

“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.”

Still, the reaction from the right was swift.

In an interview on Fox News, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, said, "The dangerousness of this cannot be underestimated."

When asked if she believed Comey should be put in jail, she said, "I do."

In a post on X, Sen. Ted Cruz, R, Texas, accused Comey of “publicly calling for the murder of the President of the United States.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R, Louisiana, called it "outrageous and dangerous."

Trump himself responded on Fox News.

“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that means. If you are the FBI Director, you don't know what that meant? That meant assassination.”

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the term 86 to mean, “to eject, dismiss, or remove someone.”

On Amazon, a "86 46" T-shirt is described to mean “Impeach Biden, with other similar ones for sale on eBay.

"There's no call to say that those are threats. There's no investigation into eBay for selling them. They're available across the internet, on other platforms. They're on sale at a reduced rate because he's not president anymore. None of the distributors are being investigated," said John Miller, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, in an interview on CNN Friday.

Miller said the term does not fit the legal standard of a threat.

“So the question here is how much of this is government weaponization theater versus a real legal problem?”

While Comey has been largely silent since Trump’s reelection, both men have publicly slammed one another for years.

The relationship soured shortly after Comey told Congress his FBI was investigating connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Days later, Donald Trump fired him.

It was just four years into his 10-year term.