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Federal authorities are investigating whether or not a message posted on social media by former FBI Director James Comey was meant to be a risk in opposition to President Donald Trump.
Comey, who was fired by Trump in his first time period, posted a picture on Instagram Thursday of seashells within the sand spelling the numbers “8647.”
The quantity “86” usually is used to check with eliminating one thing, together with a person. Trump is the forty seventh (and forty fifth) U.S. president.
Accompanying the “8647” picture was a message Comey captioned the publish with: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk…” he wrote.
Present FBI Director Kash Patel responded late Thursday on X.
“We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump,” Patel posted. “We are in communication with the Secret Service and [Secret Service] Director [Sean] Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
Comey later took the picture down and posted a message on Instagram: “I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
Trump confronted two assassination makes an attempt final yr through the runup to the November presidential election. At a marketing campaign rally in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, a sniper fired on Trump from a close-by roof, grazing his ear and killing a spectator.
Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned that the Secret Service and DHS have been investigating.
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Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, confirmed the company was conscious of Comey’s posts.
“The Secret Service vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees,” he mentioned in a press release. “We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI director and we take rhetoric like this very seriously.”
Guglielmi mentioned the Secret Companies doesn’t touch upon protecting intelligence issues.
Comey oversaw the investigation of the now debunked claims that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential marketing campaign.
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