Latest news with #ex-FBI
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump's Life at RISK? Ex-FBI Boss' ‘8647' Post Linked to KILL PLOT, Kash Patel Speaks
/ May 31, 2025, 01:15AM IST The FBI says assassination threats against Donald Trump have exploded after ex-FBI Director James Comey posted (and deleted) a cryptic photo reading '8647.' In this explosive report, we break down how that post is now being interpreted as a coded call to '86' the 47th president. FBI Director Kash Patel reveals chilling details of agents being pulled from terror cases to chase down Trump threats — including two failed attempts this year. Watch now.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
James Comey tells Colbert what led to him posting controversial '86 47' Instagram post
Former FBI Director James Comey explained what led to his controversial "86 47" Instagram post directed at President Donald Trump during an appearance on "The Late Show" Tuesday night. Comey claimed that he and his wife, Patrice, saw the "clever political message" while walking on the beach when his wife suggested that he take a picture of the shells and post it online. The ex-FBI director posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to show the numbers "86 47," a message White House officials swiftly condemned as an attempt to put out a "hit" against the 47th president. Comey told host Stephen Colbert that his wife initially questioned why someone would "put their address in the sand," before coming up with a second theory behind the message. Trump Insists He 'Won't Get Involved' As Patel, Bondi Investigate Comey Comey later deleted the post after online backlash from government officials, lawmakers and Trump's son. Trump has faced two assassination attempts in the past year, one of which resulted in him being wounded and a bystander being killed. Read On The Fox News App "We stood at it, looked at it, trying to figure out what it was, and she [Patrice Comey] had long been a server in restaurants and she said, 'You know what I think it is? I think it's a reference to restaurants when you would 86 something in a restaurant,'" Comey claimed. Comey, on the other hand, had a different idea of what the number "86" could signify initially. "I said, 'No, I remember when I was a kid, you would say 86 to get out of a place. 'This place stinks — let's 86 it,'" he explained. Having worked as a bartender, Colbert added that "86" could stand for serving a drunk patron "low-proof alcohol." Former Fbi Director James Comey Meets With Secret Service After Controversial '86 47' Post "So I said, I think it's a clever political message," Comey continued. "She said, 'You should take a picture of it.' I said, 'Sure.' And then she said, 'You should Instagram that.' And boom." Colbert noted that Trump didn't find the shell display to be "clever" and that the president said even "a child" knows what the shell message represented, a call for him to be assassinated. Comey was questioned by the Secret Service about the incident. "All they did was act like pros, and they are pros, just said, 'What did you intend? What did you understand? Why did you do this?' And I gave them the same explanation, which is the truth, and I would expect it to go away," Comey said. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Colbert congratulated Comey on making waves with his "viral campaign."Original article source: James Comey tells Colbert what led to him posting controversial '86 47' Instagram post
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Donald Trump ally slams Jeff Bezos for 'ASSASSINATION GEAR on Amazon'; says: Wow ...
(Pic courtesy: Twitter) Donald Trump ally Laura Loomer has shared an X (formerly Twitter) post, accusing e-commerce giant Amazon of selling ' assassination gear '. The post comes days after former FBI director James Comey 's '8647' crypto post on Instagram that stirred controversy after being interpreted by many as a threat against President Donald Trump. Loomer, in her X post has also shared screenshots of caps with the number '8647' selling on Amazon. She also tagged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in the post. 'Wow. They are selling ASSASSINATION GEAR on Amazon!,' Loomer wrote in the post, tagging Bezos. — LauraLoomer (@LauraLoomer) by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cost Of Amusement Park Equipment From Mexico Might Surprise You - See Tips Amusement Park Equipment | search ads Click Here Undo What is 8647 controversy As mentioned above, ex-FBI director James Comey shared an Instagram post earlier this month. The post, now deleted, had a photo of seashells arranged in an order to form the number '8647'. 'Cool shell formation on my beach walk,' the post was captioned. Trump supporters, members of congress including Tesla CEO Elon Musk , far-right activist Laura Loomer and current FBI director Kash Patel criticized the post, interpreting it as a call for Trump's assassination. In American slang, 86 is generally referred to as 'get rid of,' 'eject,' or 'remove.' While the number 47 has no direct interpretation, but is seen by many as a reference to the 47th President of the United States. Incidentally, Trump is the US 47th President. Putting the two interpretations together, 8647 was seen as a threat to 'eliminate' Trump by his supporters. Loomer then criticized Comey's post saying: 'WOW! Former FBI Director James Comey @Comey just posted this on his Instagram 2 hours ago, with the caption 'cool shell formation on my beach walk'. It's a pic of shells in the form of '86 47'. This is a call for the assassination of President Trump by the former FBI Director!' Tesla CEO Elon Musk - also a close confidante of Trump then said 'Advocating murder of the President is a serious crime'.
New York Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Ex-FBI Director James Comey says he doesn't expect to be charged over ‘86 47' Instagram post: ‘Ridiculous'
Former FBI Director James Comey doesn't expect the Trump administration to take any further action against him over an Instagram post some, including the president, viewed as a call to assassinate the commander in chief. In his first public remarks since sharing an image of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numerals '86 47,' Comey told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace he found it 'hard to have regret' over the post that he still believes looks 'totally innocent' — saying it was 'crazy' anyone would see it as a call for violence. 'I don't know how we ended up here,' the ex-FBI chief said of the commotion that got him on the Secret Service's radar. 'It never occurred to me it was any kind of controversial thing, but that's the time we live in.' 3 James Comey told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace he found it 'hard to have regret' over the post that he still believes looks 'totally innocent,' saying it was 'crazy' anyone would see it as a call for violence. MSNBC Comey explained that when he saw the shell formation on the beach, he believed it was 'some kind of political message' regarding the 47th president, and his wife encouraged him to photograph it. '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.' 'I heard through her that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination, which is crazy,' the former FBI head continued. 'But I took it down. Even if I think it's crazy, I don't want to be associated with violence of any kind.' Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017 after serving as FBI director since September 2013, said he received a call from the Secret Service the night he posted the cryptic shell photo and was interviewed by investigators last Friday at the agency's Washington field office. 3 It was the former FBI director's first public remarks since sharing an image of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numerals '86 47.' comey/Instagram 'They were pros,' Comey said of interactions with Secret Service agents. President Trump, who survived two high-profile assassination attempts, including the July 13, 2024, Butler, Pa., attempt in which a bullet grazed his right ear, viewed Comey's post as a call to take him out. 'He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,' Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier Friday. 'If you're the FBI director, and you don't know what that meant, that meant 'assassination,' and it says it loud and clear.' 3 President Trump speaks during a bill signing event for the 'Take it Down Act' in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, May 19, 2025, in Washington. AP But the former FBI director maintains that the post was 'totally innocent' and signaled that he didn't regret it, despite taking it down. 'I regret the distraction and the controversy around it, but again, it's hard to have regret about something that even in hindsight looks to me to be totally innocent,' Comey said. When asked about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's assertion that he should be jailed over the post, the FBI chief-turned-crime novelist said the idea was '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.' 'I don't – I wouldn't expect anything to come at me from the shell business.'
Mint
18-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Elon Musk's love for women, drugs and rave parties made him an easy Russian target: Ex-FBI agent
Elon Musk's affinity towards promiscuous women and drugs made him an easy Russian target, a former FBI agent recently revealed, admitting that the Tesla CEO have been a prime target for the country since the war in Ukraine started. Ex-Counterintelligence Special Agent Jonathan Buma further added that along with Musk, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was another target for Russians. As per intelligence gathered, Buma said these men were later to be used as blackmail. Speaking with German Television Broadcaster ZDF for a documentary, Buma said Elon Musk was susceptible to promiscuous women, sex and drugs. The billionaire is apparently fond of the desert rave scene Burning Man, adult entertainment and gambling, which were used by Russian agents as a 'possible entry point' to reach him. 'Musk's susceptibility to promiscuous women and drug use, particularly ketamine… were seen by Russian intelligence as an opportunity for an agent to exploit,' Buma said in the documentary. However, Buma did not reveal the source of his information that Musk and Putin were targets of the agents. 'I'm not allowed to discuss the details of exactly how we obtained this information. But there's a vast amount of evidence to support this fact,' he said. When asked if there really is some evidence to support his statement, Buma said, 'There is absolutely evidence for it.' Buma, who worked as a special FBI agency for 16 years, revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the contact with Thiel and Musk. Without his involvement or approval, the agents would have no reason to get involved in the blackmail plot, he noted. Elon Musk has had a complicated relationship with Ukraine. When the war started in 2022, he came out in support of Kyiv. However, he later threatened to revoke the access of the Starlink satellite internet service, which he had offered initially free of charge to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Musk and Putin have been in contact since at least 2022, when the conflict with Ukraine had started. Buma did not say how he found out about the information, stressing that it would be a 'criminal offense'. The ex-FBI agent was arrested in March and charged by federal prosecutors with one count of 'Disclosure of Confidential Information'. Buma was accused of leaking classified information to a publishing agency. He was later released on a $100,000 bail.
