James Comey Speaks On Controversial Trump Post: ‘Crazy’ to Think It Was a Threat
James Comey is speaking out for the first time since the controversial social media post in which he shared an image with the numbers “86 47” — which President Donald Trump and allies took as a threat of violence against the president.
In an interview with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC Monday, the former FBI director insisted his post was not meant as a violent threat — explaining that he and his wife understood the term “86” to be a restaurant parlance for removal.
“We stood over it and I said, I think it’s some kind of political message and she said, ’86’ when I was a server — she did a lot of working in restaurants meant to remove an item from the menu when you ran out of ingredients,” Comey said. “And I said, well, to me, as a kid, it always meant to leave a place, to ditch a place. I said, that’s really clever. So then she said, you should take a picture of that. And I did, and I posted it on my Instagram account and thought nothing more of it.”
Comey added, “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.”
The former FBI director insisted his post was “totally innocent.”
“I regret the distraction and the controversy around it…it’s hard to have regret about something that even in hindsight, looks to me to be totally innocent for the reasons you said,” Comey told Wallace. “But yeah, I didn’t have a gut check. I in the Trump era, I’ve been investigated a lot, audited a lot, and so it’s not my first rodeo. I’m in some strange way, the relationship he can’t get over. Maybe because I’ve lived a happy, productive life since leaving, but this has just been a distraction in that life.”
Comey detailed how he met with the Secret Service to discuss the post — and lauded them as “total pros” for their handling of the matter.
“I got a call from the secret service that night asking if I would speak to them about it. Of course, I admire the secret service. They’re pros. I spoke to them on the phone. Then they asked the next day when I got home, would I be willing to come in and meet them in person at the Washington field office, which again, I did, and they were pros again.”
Wallace played a comment from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — who said Comey “should be in jail” over the post. Comey blasted that sentiment as “ridiculous.”
“I hope people know enough about that particular person that they understand where it’s coming from,” Comey said. “It says something more depressing about the leadership of our current administration. And I just shrug because that’s ridiculous.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
