Secret Service investigates former FBI Director James Comey’s ‘8647’ post
Former FBI Director James Comey posted an image of the number 8647, sparking outrage as some saw it as a call for violence.
Former FBI Director James Comey said he expected President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to try to indict him a third time if the latest case against him fails.
“Donald Trump has an unfathomable desire to take revenge on those who have criticized him,” Comey said in an interview on MS NOW on May 11, his first interview since his second indictment. “And I’m not going to stop criticizing him because I think that’s what we need to do if we care about America. So that criticism will continue.”
On April 28, the Justice Department secured an indictment from a federal grand jury in North Carolina alleging that Comey threatened to harm or kill Trump in May 2025 when he posted an image of a seashell with “8647” written on it on Instagram.
According to Merriam-Webster, “86” is a slang term meaning “to throw away” or “to get rid of.” Mr. Trump is the 47th president of the United States.
Some Trump supporters interpreted the post as a threat against the president.
Comey deleted the post within hours and said in a new post that he “didn’t realize that some people were associating these numbers with violence.” He said he deleted the original post because he opposed “violence of all kinds.”
Mr. Comey said in a May 11 interview that he was hopeful that Mr. Trump would be able to find prosecutors willing to target those he perceives as his enemies, even if some prosecutors refuse.
“There’s still an apple at the bottom of every barrel, so he’ll find someone to do what he wants to do,” Comey said. “They’re going to keep working on this because that’s what their bosses want. Once this case goes down, I’m sure they’ll come up with something else.”
The Justice Department and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
This is the second lawsuit brought by the Trump administration against the former FBI director, who became a fierce critic of the president after he was fired from office in 2017 amid the FBI’s investigation into ties between the 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.
In September, the Justice Department secured an indictment from a federal grand jury in Virginia alleging that Comey lied to Congress, an allegation that Comey denied. The case was dismissed after a judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, was illegally appointed. The Department of Justice appealed this decision.
Both lawsuits came after President Trump specifically called for criminal charges against Comey in a September Truth social post.
Under the current Trump administration, the Justice Department has repeatedly sought charges against Comey as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James, another clear target of Trump. The initial charges against James were dismissed along with the charges against Comey, and the Justice Department made at least two more attempts to secure charges against her but failed.
The department is also investigating people hostile to President Trump, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman Lisa Cook, and six other members of Congress who encouraged military personnel to disobey potentially illegal orders.
Comey said on May 11 that he would not be surprised if another lawsuit was filed against him in the coming days or weeks.
“I told my family, ‘Donald Trump is so attached to me and other people that this situation will only go away when he leaves office,'” he said. “He’s not going to let it go.”
