Former FBI Director James Comey is back in the headlines over posting a seashell photo from a recent walk on the beach that read “8647.”
“I posted it on my Instagram account and thought nothing more of it, until I heard through her that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination, which is crazy,” he said of the photo, which he went on to delete.
“Even if I think it’s crazy, I don’t want to be associated with violence of any kind," he told MSNBC.
President Trump and many on the right argue there’s no way the former director of the FBI can claim ignorance.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump said. “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.”
Comey, who had been gearing up for a PR tour for his book, “FDR Drive: A Crime Novel,” was even called by Secret Service over the post and showed up for an interview about it at the Washington field office.
During a book signing event, he was asked how that Secret Service interview went, and why he wanted to "86" the president.
At first he chuckled when told the question came from Fox News' Jesse Watters, then he said he wasn't taking questions of that nature.
Watters' correspondent Johnny then asked him to sign a seashell for him.
"Which beach is this that you're going to? You find a Kamala seashell, 8647, this is a politically charged beach, Director!"
The best thing you will see all week.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 21, 2025
Jesse Watters sent his correspondent Johnny to James Comey’s book signing to ask him two questions:
“Why do you want to 86 Trump?”
“Will you sign my seashell?”
Too good.
pic.twitter.com/LThMEB3ald
