James Comey Brushes Off ‘Crazy’ Criticism Of ’86 47′ Post | EUROtoday

Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday addressed critics of his current “86 47” social media put up, calling it “crazy” to consider that the message was meant to function a name for President Donald Trump’s “assassination.”

“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 instructed MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace in his first on-camera interview on the Instagram put up that Trump claimed to be a name to violence.

Comey, who met with the Secret Service on Friday because the company and the Department of Homeland Security examine, weighed in on MAGA outrage over the put up he shared final week displaying seashore shells forming the quantity “8647.”

While the time period “86” is usually identified to seek advice from ejecting or eradicating somebody (or one thing) from someplace (or a menu merchandise that’s now not accessible at a restaurant), some have interpreted the time period as that means “to kill.”

Comey, who Trump fired in 2017 after the FBI investigated the president’s 2016 marketing campaign ties to Russia, mirrored on how he and his spouse found the shell formation throughout a stroll on the seashore.

“We stood over it and I said, ‘You know, I think it’s some kind of political message,’ and she said, ‘You know, 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,’” he defined to Wallace.

“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.’”

Comey instructed Wallace that he “thought nothing more” of the picture after sharing it till his spouse instructed him that individuals noticed it as a name for Trump’s assassination.

He mentioned he was then contacted that night time by the Secret Service, describing the officers as “pros.”

Comey, when requested if he regretted sharing the picture, mentioned he regrets the “distraction” and “controversy” surrounding the put up.

“I didn’t have a gut check. I, in the Trump era, I’ve been investigated a lot, audited a lot, and so it’s not my first rodeo,” he mentioned.

“I’m, in some strange way, the relationship he can’t get over. Maybe because I’ve lived a happy, productive life since leaving [the FBI]but this has just been a distraction in that life.”