Secret Service interviews Comey over Instagram post appearing to call to '86' President Trump

The Secret Service reportedly interviewed former FBI Director James Comey on Friday, after he made a controversial post on Instagram the day before that appeared to call for the assassination of President Donald Trump.

Comey has since deleted the Instagram post he shared Thursday, which showed the numbers "8647" etched in the sand at a beach via seashells. The numbers are perceived as a call to "86" the 47th president, which can be used as a call sign for murder. 

The former FBI director has tried to walk back the message in a follow-up post on Thursday, claiming he was "unaware" of the violent rhetoric behind the numbers, despite being a former high-ranking law enforcement officer. 

The Secret Service, which has jurisdiction in the case, has not commented on its investigation so far. But footage from CNN showed Comey leaving his suburban Virginia home for the interview, held at the Secret Service’s Washington field office, and a federal law enforcement source told the New York Post that the interview took place. 

The interview occurred after Trump slammed Comey, whom he fired from his position as FBI director in 2017, stating the former official knew "exactly" what the post meant.

"He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant," Trump said. "If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant? That meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear. Now, he wasn't very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant. And he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard, because people like me, and they like what's happening with our country. Our country has become respected again and all this — and he's calling for the assassination of the president."

Trump has already survived multiple assassination attempts, including one last year in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which a bullet grazed his ear.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.