Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called for the arrest of former FBI Director James Comey after an Instagram post he made sparked accusations of issuing a veiled threat against President Donald Trump. Comey had shared a photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47,” which some interpreted as coded language—“86” being slang for eliminating someone and “47” referencing Trump as the 47th president.
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk…” Comey captioned the now-deleted post. He later claimed he didn’t realize the numbers could be associated with violence and took the post down after public backlash.
Gabbard, appearing on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime, said the post amounted to “a call to assassinate” Trump and stated, “James Comey should be put behind bars.” She added that Comey’s influence could inspire others to act violently.
The Secret Service has launched an investigation and confirmed agents have been assigned to review the incident.
