Former FBI Director James is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service after provoking outrage over a cryptic social media post showing the number “86 47.”
The White House responded by accusing Comey of placing a “hit” on President Donald Trump.
Comey posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to show the numbers “86 47.”
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk…,” Comey captioned the post Thursday.
“86” is frequently used as a call sign for murdering or getting rid of someone.
“47,” meanwhile, has been interpreted as denoting the 47th president of the United States.
Comey later deleted the post after online backlash from government officials, lawmakers, and the president’s son.
Trump has faced two assassination attempts in the past year, one of which resulted in him being shot and a bystander being killed.
After a widespread backlash on social media over the post, the ex-FBI chief deleted the Instagram post and posted a message addressing it.
At least one lawmaker called for Comey to be arrested over the post.
“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