President Trump called former FBI Director James Comey a 'dirty cop' and claimed the spy chief may have lied to the bureau about using 'mob' language to threaten the commander-in-chief.
Comey, who surrendered himself at a federal courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday, is facing federal charges of threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.
The charges stem from an Instagram post the former FBI director made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out '8647.'
The phrase '8647' has been adopted by radical anti-Trumpers. The president and his allies have characterized the term as a call for his assassination.
The number 86 is slang for removing or getting rid of something, though it can also mean to kill. Trump is the 47th President.
'"86" is a mob term for "kill him,"' Trump said on Wednesday night. 'They say 86 him! 86 47 means "kill President Trump,"' he said on Truth Social.
Trump added: 'James Comey, who is a Dirty Cop, one of the worst, knows this full well! EIGHT MILES OUT, SIX FEET DOWN!'
The president then pondered whether Comey had lied to investigators about his familiarity of the phrase.
'Didn’t he also lie to the FBI about this??? I think so!'
President Donald Trump hit out at former FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday night
Comey is facing federal charges of threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce
Trump argued on his Truth Social page that Comey was using 'mob' terminology to threaten him, and accused the former FBI director of lying to Congress
But Comey declared his innocence in a video posted to Substack on Tuesday.
'I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let's go,' Comey said.
His defense team is now planning to file motions accusing the Department of Justice of selectively and vindictively prosecuting him at Trump's order - something Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has denied.
Comey posted the controversial photo last year with the caption: 'Cool shell formation on my beach walk.' He later deleted the post the same day and apologized.
But Trump's allies quickly claimed the post called for Trump's assassination. Then-homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Secret Service would investigate the former FBI director.
Secret Service agents conducted an hours-long interview with Comey soon afterward. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the time said he should be 'put behind bars for this' and that she was 'concerned' Trump's life was in danger.
The Justice Department now argues in an indictment that Comey 'knowingly and willfully' made threats against the president's life and transmitted the threat on social media.
Prosecutors do not spell out what the numbers mean in the indictment, but it claims that a 'reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances' would interpret the photo as a 'serious expression of intent to do harm to the President of the United States.'
'You cannot threaten to kill the President of the United States. Full stop,' Blanche said at a press conference on Tuesday.
When he was then asked later on Wednesday whether everyone posting '8647' would be charged, Blanche responded: 'Every case is different; every threats case is different.'
Comey surrendered himself at a federal courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday
The charges stem from an Instagram post the former FBI director made last May featuring seashells arranged to spell out '8647'
But legal experts, including some conservatives who typically defend the Trump administration's actions, expect the case to be dismissed long before it goes to trial.
'As one of his longest and most vocal critics, I would frankly prefer to crawl into one of Comey's conversant shells than write this column,' scholar Jonathan Turley posted on his blog on Wednesday.
'However, here we are. This indictment is unconstitutional and will not likely survive constitutional challenge.'
Blanche's push to indict Comey comes just one month after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, for failing to pursue his perceived enemies aggressively enough.
Trump accidentally posted a message on Truth Social in September, pressuring Bondi to prosecute his political enemies, including Comey.
Days later, Comey was indicted on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, related to his 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee.
A federal judge dismissed the indictment in November, however, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed.
But by then, the Justice Department had dropped its investigation into the seashells posts, according to The New York Times.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has denied that President Trump ordered him to indict Comey, arguing that Comey 'knowingly and willfully' made threats against the president's life and transmitted a threat via social media
Comey was joined at the courthouse on Wednesday with his family
Blanche - who served as Trump's personal lawyer before joining the administration - has since revived the case as he leads the administration's efforts to target Trump's enemies.
Comey led the FBI's investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, before the president fired him the following year.
He remains one of Trump's most vocal critics on network television.
When the president was then asked about the case from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said he thought people like Comey created 'tremendous danger for politicians and others.'
'Comey is a dirty cop. He's a very dirty cop,' the president told reporters. 'He's a crooked man.'