Posted on 04/28/2026 6:01:07 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau spent nearly a year investigating a social media post that led to Tuesday’s indictment of one of his predecessors, James Comey.
Comey was charged over an Instagram post he made in May 2025, which he later deleted after conservative uproar. The post showed an image of seashells on a beach arranged in a way that read “86 47.” The former FBI director wrote, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
President Donald Trump is the 47th president, while “86” is slang in the service industry and typically means to refuse service to someone or to throw a person out of an establishment. Conservatives insisted the “86” in this case meant “kill.”
Amid the furor last year, Comey said it was “crazy” to think his post was a threat.
Comey was indicted on two counts in the Eastern District of North Carolina: making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat across state lines.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Patel echoed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said the bureau spent 11 months on the case. The director said the length of the probe is not unusual, as such cases “take time”:
As the U.S. Attorney indicated, James Comey will be afforded every matter of due process under the United States Constitution. And as the attorney general indicated, this has been a case that’s been investigated over the past nine, 10, 11 months. These cases take time. Our investigators work methodically. They are career agents, career prosecutors who work these matters. They call the balls and strikes in the field as they see fit, pursuant to the facts of the case and the law. They took that information and made a presentment to a grand jury, a jury of their peers in the district in which the alleged crime took place. And that grand jury spoke. And that grand jury returned a two-count indictment against James Comey, James Comey allegedly threatened the life of the president of the United States.
This is the second time Comey has been indicted. In September, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted Comey for allegedly lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation in 2020. Two months later, a judge tossed the charges after ruling that the U.S. Attorney for the District, who had signed the indictment, was illegally appointed.
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I think this case is going to disappear into oblivion, but even if you think that it does have merit, what conceivably could lead to expending months of bureau resources prepping it?
He had all 14k agents on the case. That’s why Butler and Mar a Lago and now this latest attempt will get those 14k agents full attention.
If it took that long, I sure hope that they have more than just a photo of some shells.
The process is the punishment...............
Maybe, but I don’t think Comey’s the one feeling punished.
Enough to convince a grand jury?
86 does not mean deny service of someone… it means to kill it.
maroons
A criminal enterprise named the FBI is taking its time investigating a former Director of the criminal enterprise of the FBI and something comes out of it?
A festivus miracle !
Just us miracles usually come about.
I read that Comey feigned ignorance of the eliminate or kill usage of the term 86, but then it came to light he had previously made postings about 86ing this and 86ting that in contexts that contradicted his claim of ignorance. As part of the FBI, he would certainly know the darker connotation of the term. I don’t think they expected President Trump to be so resilient and still be around now. Oops for them.
It will be summarily dismissed at the first level court.
How about charging him with something important, like lying to the FISA court or perjury before congress or something else more substantial than a Facebook post. We are not England.
Well stated and worth repeating.
I’d like to see Comey go down for something real. This just looks like they’re punting.
The guy is as corrupt as the day is long. This, though, is a nothingburger.
Republican Lawmaker Claims Restaurant’s ’86 45′ Shirts Are Calling for Trump’s Murder
By Danielle Wayda
November 28, 2018, 7:00pm
“It wasn’t until the 1970s, according to Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang, that the term evolved to signify murder.”
https://www.casino.org/news/vegas-myths-re-busted-to-86-someone-was-vegas-mob-slang-for-murder/
Agreed.
Amazon SELLS “Trump 86 47” shirts. Goofy looking shirts. Is DOJ going to go after people who wear that shirt? No way.
Waste of effort re: Comey. Focusing on COVID-19 related document destruction is a good use of DOJ resources.
I was disappointed to hear that this was what they are prosecuting. It will be thrown out in a heartbeat, surely there are more serious crimes they could charge him with.
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