Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has revealed he has more damning evidence of former FBI Director James Comey’s alleged threats against President Trump — and said it wasn’t just the viral “86 47” Instagram post that got him arrested again.
“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 Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“That’s why you saw an indictment last week, notwithstanding the fact that it was last May that the post was made,” he added.
“So I am not permitted to get into the details of what the grand jury heard or found, as you know. But rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted,” Blanche said.
Comey was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina over his alleged threats against Trump.
The only potential threat mentioned in the three-page indictment was a photo he posted on Instagram in May 2025 of seashells on a beach spelling out “86 47,” which the Justice Department said was a threat to kill the president.
But on “Meet the Press,” Blanche said that other people who wore or posted those letters would not be indicted.
“[It is] posted constantly — that phrase is used constantly,” Blanche said.
“Every one of those statements do not result in indictments,” he added, while acknowledging, “Of course, the sea shells are part of that case.”
Comey has denied any wrongdoing and said he will fight the charges.
He said he doesn’t associate “86” with violence, but rather with the hospitality business, where it has been used for decades to refer to barring a customer or removing something from a menu.
