Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed online Friday evening that Secret Service agents met with former FBI director James Comey earlier in the day about his “8647” social media post that some have interpreted as a threat against President Trump, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief offered no additional insight into what’s next in the ongoing review of Comey’s now-deleted seashell photo.
“I will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of (Trump),” Noem wrote on the social platform X. “This is an ongoing investigation.”
DHS didn’t provide additional details in response to The Hill’s additional information from Noem but referred to a prior statement from the U.S. Secret Service (USSS).
“The Secret Service vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees,” the Secret Service said Friday. “We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI director and we take rhetoric like this very seriously. Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters.”
Noem said Thursday that the USSS and DHS had launched an investigation and were treating the matter as a “threat” as Republicans on Capitol Hill pushed for a thorough review.
CNN first reported that Comey had agreed to a voluntary meeting with agents at the Washington Field Office on Friday.
Comey, 64, posted the Instagram photo Thursday, which showed seashells on a beach spelling out “8647.” Trump, his top allies and other Republicans interpreted the message as a call for the 47th president’s assassination. Comey denied that his post was meant to incite harm and said he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”
The phrase “86” is commonly used as slang for removing or throwing out something or someone.
Trump, who was the target of thwarted assassination attempts in Pennsylvania and Florida last fall, rejected Comey’s claim that his post was misunderstood.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier on Friday.