Comey says ‘8647’ post that caused Trump firestorm was totally innocent

James Comey went for a walk on the beach with his wife when they stumbled on a message in the sand: 8647.

According to the former FBI director, his wife wondered if it was an address. They stood over the seashells, trying to decipher meaning. His wife, according to Comey’s account, recalled her days as a server, and said 86 was the term used to remove an item from the menu. Comey chimed in that when he was a kid, “86” meant “to ditch a place”.

“I said: ‘That’s really clever,’” Comey recounted in a Monday interview on MSNBC, describing the events of last week that led him to post a photo of the seashells on Instagram, leading to a firestorm of accusations from Trump allies that he was calling for violence against the president.

“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. But I took it down. Even if I think it’s crazy, I don’t want to be associated with violence of any kind,” he said.

To “86” is common slang for stopping or getting rid of something, while “47” could be seen as a reference to Trump, the 47th president.

Comey said he was hoping for a buzz around his forthcoming legal thriller FDR Drive: A Crime Novel. Instead he got a call from the Secret Service, who had opened an investigation into the post.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in his first term, appeared voluntarily at the Washington field office for an interview, after the president insisted there was no innocent reading of the message. “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 ultimately took down the post, appeared nonplussed by the investigation. “It’s not my first rodeo,” he said, noting his tempestuous relationship with Trump which Comey said deteriorated after he rebuffed Trump’s early attempts to secure a pledge of loyalty from the then FBI director. The agency is now led by Kash Patel, whose abiding loyalty has raised urgent questions about the FBI’s independence.

But Comey warned that the episode pointed to a more worrying trend by this administration: “The use of power to aim at individuals, eroding the rule of law.”

His advice to others who may find themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s retribution?

“The rule of law is still our saving grace,” Comey said. “We have a judiciary in this country that will support the truth. Take solace in that. Take prudent steps, but don’t freak out. These people are not good enough for you to be freaked out about. Protect yourself, be measured about the effect the threat has on you, and know that you’re going to be OK.”