DOJ cites Comey's '86 47' seashell Instagram post as evidence in indictment push

Former FBI director James Comey posted an Instagram photo in 2025 showing seashells arranged to spell ‘86 47’ — restaurant slang that most commonly means to remove something from the menu, though fringe dictionary entries list ‘murder’ among its possible meanings. The Trump administration, citing the latter interpretation, is treating the post as part of a case against Comey.

The move fits a longer pattern of retaliation tracing back to Comey’s investigation of Trump’s Russia ties, his 2017 firing, and the 2025 dismissal of Comey’s prosecutor daughter. An earlier indictment in Virginia already collapsed due to procedural missteps, taking the interim US attorney down with it.

The episode underscores how thin the evidentiary basis has become for federal prosecutions targeting political adversaries, with social media imagery and contested slang now serving as the pretext for criminal referrals against former officials.