Former FBI Director James Comey made headlines on Friday after he made a highly controversial social media post that arguably advocated for some sort of harm to come to President Donald Trump, as it depicted the phrase “86 47,” arranged in seashells.
Though Comey later disclaimed the notion that he intended to incite violence toward the commander in chief, White House senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka offered a different take, asserting that the former agency head “committed a crime” and should face appropriate consequences, as Breitbart reports.
As Fox News noted, the controversy began when Comey made the now-infamous post on Instagram that millions believe evinced his desire to see violence visited upon the current commander in chief, captioning the accompanying photo with the words, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Once a firestorm ensued over the implications of his post, Comey attempted to backtrack and explain, saying, “I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message.”
Comey added, “I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” an assertion that strains credulity coming from someone who once led the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he went on.
On Friday evening, Comey was questioned by agents from the U.S. Secret Service, the agency charged with probing threats against the sitting president,” a move that individuals such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, among others, believed was necessary, particularly in light of two prior assassination attempts against Trump in the last year.
Formal questioning, according to Gorka, should just be the start of Comey's legal headaches, a position he expressed during an interview given to Newsmax TV's Finnerty.
Gorka made it clear that he believes Comey committed a criminal offense with his seashell post, telling host Rob Finnerty, “Well, you can read it, Rob, on my Twitter feed – @SebGorka.”
“I informed Comey, who strangely has me blocked on X. I don't know why the former FBI director, disgraced FBI director, has me blocked,” Gorka continued.
The outspoken administration official added, “I told him we are doing counterterrorism in the National Security Council of President Trump's White House. I am the senior director for counterterrorism for the U.S. government.”
Gorka declared, “And, Title 18, Section 897 of the U.S. criminal code means that you committed a crime -- threatening the life of an incumbent president is a crime.”
When it comes to Comey's half-hearted mea culpa, Gorka was thoroughly unconvinced, saying, “And nobody on this planet believes you, James Comey, that you didn't know that to '86' someone is to kill them.”
Gorka did not stop there, still addressing Comey by saying, “You're a liar, and you incited violence against a man who they have tried to assassinate on multiple occasions. Who is the 'they'? Democrat, donors to the Democrat Party, people who think that political violence is justified.”
It appears that Gorka's patience with the left -- including liberal journalists -- has just about reached its end, as just one day before he unleashed on Comey, the Trump administration official sounded off on Politico's Dasha Burns during a discussion about immigration, stating that her line of questioning was proof-positive that her outlet is akin to “gutter press” with which he regretted engaging at all.
