Former FBI Director James Comey is expected to meet face to face with U.S. Secret Service officials in Washington, D.C., for an interview about his “86 47” post, two sources briefed on the meeting told Fox News.
Comey is under investigation for an Instagram post showing seashells arranged on a beach to read “86 47.”
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” he wrote in the since-deleted Thursday post. Some have interpreted the post to mean “86” – get rid of – “47” – Donald Trump, the 47th president.
Comey offered an explanation for the post after he received backlash on social media.
TRUMP ADDRESSES COMEY’S ‘8647’ MESSAGE: ‘HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT’
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” the subsequent post from Comey said. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
EX-FBI CHIEF COMEY’S ‘86 47’ SOCIAL MEDIA POST CONDEMNED BY WHITE HOUSE TO PUT ‘HIT’ ON PRESIDENT
Trump didn’t accept Comey’s explanation, telling Bret Baier, “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. 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 was seen late Friday afternoon going into a garage entrance of a building that houses government law enforcement agencies where he was interviewed and explain his side of the story.
His meeting lasted for 70 minutes and his wife will be interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service next, a source told Fox News.
The FBI, which Comey used to lead before he was fired by Trump during his first term, had no comment on the matter, but it was also apparent that people at the top levels of the agency were aware of the post.
Trump’s new FBI director, Kash Patel, acknowledged that agency personnel were “aware” of Comey’s post in his own statement shared on X.
“We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran,” Patel said. “Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
The U.S. Secret Service is leading the investigation at this point, but the FBI and Department of Justice could take a larger role if necessary, Fox News is told.
Trump has faced two assassination attempts in the past year, one of which resulted in him being shot and a bystander being killed.
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
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