Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey is facing accusations of issuing a death threat against US President Donald Trump.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, which cites court documents from the US Department of Justice reported by The Washington Post, a social media post by Comey featuring the numbers "8647" has been interpreted as a veiled threat.
The incident occurred just days before the release of Comey's memoirs. He had posted a photograph of the numbers "8647" arranged in seashells. The Department of Justice contends these numbers constitute a coded message. In American slang, the term "86" is often used to imply eliminating someone, while the number "47" is interpreted as a reference to Donald Trump's position as the 47th US President. Formal charges were filed against Comey in April.
Court documents also include correspondence between Comey and his literary agent. When the agent remarked, "You have become a celebrity," Comey reportedly replied, "I didn't plan this, but if it helps book sales, it's not a problem for me." Prosecutors are presenting these exchanges as evidence that Comey intended to leverage the attention generated by the post to boost his book's commercial performance.
Comey's legal team has denied the allegations, characterizing them as politically motivated. The defense argues that "8647" is a common numerical combination found on thousands of products and could be entirely coincidental. James Comey himself has rejected the charges brought against him.
The relationship between James Comey and Donald Trump deteriorated significantly in 2017 after the US President dismissed the FBI director from his post. Following that dismissal, the FBI initiated an investigation into whether Trump had acted in the interests of Russia. Declassified documents indicate that the investigation sought to determine whether the President had knowingly or unknowingly engaged in activities that posed a threat to US national security.
