Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back Sunday against claims that the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey was driven solely by a cryptic Instagram post, insisting the case is built on a broader investigation.
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Blanche told host Kristen Welker that career prosecutors and federal agents did not hinge their case on the image alone. “Rest assured that the career assistant United States attorneys in North Carolina, the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents that investigated this case didn't just look at the Instagram post and walk away,” he said.
The post in question, which Comey uploaded last May, featured seashells arranged to form the numbers “86-47.” A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted Comey on Tuesday, alleging he “did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” President Donald Trump.
Trump has framed “86” as mob slang for murder, telling reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office, “If anybody knows anything about crime, they know ‘86.’ You know what ‘86’ [is]? It's a mob term for ‘kill ‘em.’” However, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “86” in restaurant slang as meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to.”
Blanche emphasized that the investigation lasted 11 months and involved more than the Instagram post, though he declined to detail the additional evidence. “That's why you saw an indictment last week, notwithstanding the fact that it was last May that the post was made,” he said. “I am not permitted to get into the details of what the grand jury heard or found, as you know. But rest assured that it's not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted.”
Comey has repeatedly denied any criminal intent, saying he was unaware the numbers carried violent connotations. He has vowed to fight the charges. The indictment itself, a three-page document, cites only the Instagram post as evidence—a post Comey deleted shortly after publishing it.
The case has sparked political debate, with some critics accusing the Justice Department of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution. In a related article, some GOP figures have expressed unease, calling it a potential act of political revenge. Blanche, however, rejected any suggestion that the indictment was an audition for a permanent attorney general role, as covered in a separate report.
Comey appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday for an administrative hearing. If convicted on charges of threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, he faces up to 10 years in prison. Blanche defended the process, noting, “We indict thousands of cases every year. Every one of those cases, there's an indictment and then eventually there is a trial or some sort of disposition. At the trial, a public trial, that will be open to the public, everybody in this country will know exactly what evidence the government has against Mr. Comey.”
