Former FBI Director James Comey is facing a federal investigation after posting an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read "86 47," a combination that former President Donald Trump and his allies say was a coded threat against Trump, the 47th president. The post was deleted, but not before drawing sharp rebuke from officials and launching a Secret Service interview.
Trump reacted forcefully, telling Fox News, "He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear." The image, which Comey captioned "cool shell formation on my beach walk," was seen by critics as invoking slang in which "86" can mean to discard or eliminate.
Comey later removed the post and addressed the backlash. "I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message," he wrote. "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."
Legal experts said it was unlikely the post would meet the legal standard for a criminal threat. Still, the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are investigating. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both weighed in publicly, with Noem stating that the post was under formal review.
The slang term "86" dates back to restaurant and bar jargon of the early 20th century, often used to indicate that an item was no longer available. Over time, it expanded into other meanings, including dismissing someone or something. While it has occasionally been used as a euphemism for murder in fiction, dictionaries and linguists largely agree that this is not the term's primary usage.
Jesse Sheidlower, adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University and a former Oxford English Dictionary editor, said, "86 is something that's not there, something that shouldn't be there like an undesirable customer." He noted that while it has been used to imply killing in rare instances, it more commonly means to eject or get rid of someone.
Comey's critics argued that context and timing were important, especially given his long public feud with Trump. Trump fired Comey in 2017 and the former FBI chief has since used social media to criticize the former president and support Democratic candidates.
Since leaving office, Comey has cultivated an unusual online persona-first anonymously as "Reinhold Niebuhr," later as himself-posting a mix of political commentary, scenic photos, awkward humor, and self-promotion. In recent years, Comey has posted messages supporting Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Liz Cheney, and celebrated Trump's 2024 criminal conviction with a repost of Amos 5:24: "'But justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.'"
