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President Donald Trump has called former FBI Director James Comey a "dirty cop" as he faces charges over an Instagram post from last year.
Comey was indicted in North Carolina this week and surrendered to the authorities on Wednesday over a photo he posted last year of seashells laid out to read “86 47,” which the Justice Department alleges was intended as a threat against Trump.
Comey later removed the Instagram post, saying he had not considered that it might be seen as promoting violence. The phrase "eighty-six" is commonly used in the hospitality industry to indicate that an item is no longer available, and more broadly can mean to cancel or get rid of something.
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Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said: "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!"
Comey, a vocal critic of Trump, is now facing federal felony charges that could bring a prison sentence of up to 10 years. He has said he plans to contest the case in court.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and Comey's attorney via email for comment.
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The Instagram Post
“Cool shell formation,” James Comey wrote in an Instagram post accompanying the image, which he later deleted.
Following criticism, Comey posted a follow-up note on Instagram.
"I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assume 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."
At the time, Trump said he believed Comey knew what the numbers meant.
"That meant assassination, and it says it loud and clear," Trump told Fox News in an interview in May 2025. "Now, he wasn't very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant."
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The Indictment
The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, says a reasonable person “would interpret [the post] as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”
While prosecutors had sought an arrest warrant from a federal judge in North Carolina, Comey's surrender means authorities did not need to locate and detain him.
In a video posted to his personal Substack that same day, Comey responded: “I am still innocent.”
He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was unaware of the meaning behind the numbers and alleging that the case is politically motivated. His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said the former FBI director would move to dismiss the case on grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution, arguing he was targeted for speaking out against Trump.
“Well, they’re back,” he said in the video. “This time, about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won’t be the end of it, but nothing has changed with me. I am still innocent. I am still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So, let’s go.”
Comey continued: “It’s really important that all of us remember—this is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be, and the good news is we get closer every day to restoring those values. Keep the faith.”
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said: "If anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86. It's a mob term for kill him. The mob uses that term to say when they want to kill them, they say, '86 the son of a gun.'"
During Trump's first administration, the Justice Department brought charges against Comey, accusing him of lying to Congress in 2020 during testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The case was later dismissed after a judge found that the prosecutor, a former lawyer for Trump, had not been lawfully appointed.
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