President Donald Trump has lashed out at former FBI director James Comey, again calling him a "dirty cop" and insisting his now-notorious seashell Instagram post was an assassination threat.
Writing on Truth Social late Wednesday, the president declared: "'86' is a mob term for 'kill him.' They say 86 him! 86 47 means 'kill President Trump.' James Comey, who is a Dirty Cop, one of the worst, knows this full well! EIGHT MILES OUT, SIX FEET DOWN! Didn't he also lie to the FBI about this??? I think so!"
Trump had earlier made the same argument in the Oval Office when confronted by CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins over whether he really believed his life was in danger because of Comey's post.
"Well if anybody knows anything about crime, they know '86,'" the president answered her. "You know what '86' – it's a mob term for 'kill him.' You know? You ever see the movies? '86 him,' the mobster says to one of his wonderful associates. '86 him.' That means kill him. I think of it as a mob term."
When Collins pressed again on whether he sincerely believed Comey meant to encourage violence against him, he said: "Probably, I don't know. Based on what I'm seeing out there, yeah. The people like Comey have created tremendous danger, I think, for politicians and others."
The Department of Justice filed a two-count indictment against the ex-official Tuesday over the contested post, insisting it amounted to "a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the president of the United States."
Comey reacted wearily to the development in a video posted on Substack, protesting his innocence and commenting: "Nothing has changed with me. I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go."
The ex-director was also targeted by the DOJ last year, when the then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, accused him of lying to Congress. He denied the charges before the case was tossed without reaching trial when Halligan was ruled to have overstayed her term in office.
Legal experts covering the new case against Comey have been quick to disparage it. Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb called it "specious" and a "vindictive prosecution," ex-deputy assistant attorney general Tom Dupree called it "skeletal," and even conservative constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley labelled it "weak" on Fox News. All expected it to prove a dead end.
Acting AG Todd Blanche was quizzed Wednesday on whether a popular MAGA influencer, Jack Posobiec, would face the same charges after posting an equivalent message in 2022, which could be interpreted as a threat against Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.
