Acting AG Blanche Says It Was ‘Not Just’ Comey’s Seashell Post That Led to Indictment

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday that former FBI Director James Comey wasn’t just indicted for his “86 47” seashell social media post.

“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,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning.

Blanche added that it’s “why you saw an indictment last week, notwithstanding the fact that it was last May that the post was made.”

“So I am not permitted to get into the details of what the grand jury heard or found, as you know,” he said. “But rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted.”

Prosecutors said that the second indictment of Comey involved an Instagram post that showed seashells arranged on the beach to read, “86 47,” with a caption: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

President Donald Trump, Blanche, and critics of the post have said that the seashell photo was meant to serve as threatening message against Trump, who is the 47th president.

The term “86,” which has commonly been used in the restaurant business, can mean to remove, nix, or reject something, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Other dictionaries state that “86” can refer to killing or executing someone.

The case was charged in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the location of the beach where Comey said he found the shells. He made a brief appearance Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the state where he lives.

“Well, they’re back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina Beach a year ago, and this won’t be the end of it. But nothing has changed with me. I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go,” he said.

Federal prosecutors first indicted Comey last year on allegations that he lied about leaks to media outlets in comments before Congress. However, those charges were dismissed after a judge found that then-interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan had not been not lawfully appointed to her position.

Trump said last week that he believes his life was probably in danger as a result of the Coney Instagram post. He told reporters in the White House’s Oval Office, “If anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86—it’s a mob term for ‘kill him.’”

During Trump’s first term, the president retained Comey, who had been appointed as the FBI director by President Barack Obama, for nearly four years before firing him on May 9, 2017. The decision led to public animus between Trump and Comey.