Damage Control: Jim Comey Insists He Found Trump Threat On Beach, Didn’t Know What ’86’ Meant

Former FBI Director James Comey embarked on a media tour to save face after an Instagram post landed him in hot water, and he doubled down on claims that he’d had nothing to do with creating the shell formation he’d photographed during a casual “beach walk” — and that he’d had no idea the term “86” might imply a threat.

Comey first found himself at the center of heated conversation when he shared a photo from the beach, showing seashells that “someone” had arranged to form the numbers “86” and “47.” Critics immediately noted that “86” was generally understood to mean “get rid of” and “47” was a clear reference to President Donald Trump, the 47th president — and they pointed out the fact that Comey should have known better than to post something that so many would interpret as a threat.

The former FBI chief, who was fired by Trump in 2017, claimed at the time that he did not realize the term implied violence and deleted the post — but not before it caught the attention of current FBI Director Kash Patel, and it earned Comey a visit from the United States Secret Service.

Comey doubled down during an appearance on CBS’ “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, saying again that he and his wife had simply stumbled on the arrangement of seashells — and that he’d interpreted the message as entirely political.

🚨JAMES COMEY: “My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach…somebody else did it!” pic.twitter.com/LZ6GOX8inv

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 21, 2025

“My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach,” he said, adding, “Somebody else did it!”

“We were on a walk, preparing for this week,” Comey continued. “And she said, ‘Why’d somebody put their address in the sand?’ We looked at it, trying to figure out what it was. She’d long been a server in restaurants. She said, ‘You know what I think it is? A reference to restaurants. When you’d 86 something at a restaurant.’ I said, ‘No, I remember as a kid, you’d say ’86’ to get out of a place. This place stinks, let’s 86 it.’ So I said, ‘I think it’s a clever political message.'”

Comey then tossed his wife under the bus, saying that she was responsible for encouraging him to take the photo and post it to his Instagram page. “She said, ‘You should take a picture.’ I said, ‘Sure.’ She said, ‘You should Instagram that.’ And then, boom.”