Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has publicly accused former FBI Director James Comey of using coded language to issue a threat against President Donald Trump.
Her comments followed Comey’s deletion of an Instagram post displaying the numbers “86 47,” which sparked widespread controversy and accusations of veiled incitement.
During an appearance on “Jesse Watters: Primetime” on Fox News Thursday, Gabbard dismissed Comey’s claim of ignorance regarding the meaning of “86 47,” citing his extensive background in federal law enforcement.
“That is a ridiculous and insane statement to make, certainly within this context, but especially coming from a guy who’s the former director of the FBI. A guy who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters. People who know and execute other humans and use this exact lingo of 86,” Gabbard stated.
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“Comey himself admitted in his follow-up message that he knew that this was a political statement. The only reason he knew that, Jesse, was because a little over a month ago a bunch of anti-Trump anti-Elon Musk protesters were proliferating the use of this 86 47 slogan, which was a veiled call to action to murder the sitting president of the United States,” she alleged. “So for Comey to think that we the American people are so stupid as to think that he as a former FBI director, former prosecutor and someone who clearly pays attention to what’s going on would believe his lie. That he did not know what this actually was calling for.”
Comey removed the original post and replaced it with a new one stating that he didn’t “realize” the association of the “86 47” numbers with any violent connotations and that he had assumed it was a political message.
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey explained in his new Instagram post.
“The dangerousness of this, Jesse, cannot be underestimated. When we have two assassination attempts on the president’s life, when we have people who look to guys like Comey, who has been celebrated by MSNBC and the Democrat elite and CNN as the beacon of integrity, the law-and-order guy. The guy who would tell the truth no matter what the consequences. This is the guy who’s issuing a hit on President Trump,” she added.
READ: Comey’s ‘8647’ Instagram Post Sparks Outrage, DHS And Secret Service Launch Investigation
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has also weighed in, stating that Comey “called for the assassination” of the 47th president. She added that both the Secret Service and DHS will investigate and take appropriate action.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on X that the bureau is aware of the post and is in contact with the Secret Service and Director Sean Curran.
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