It’s absurd for James Comey – a former FBI director – to claim he didn’t know that the term “86” is mob lingo for killing someone, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday, regarding Comey’s now-deleted social media post declaring “86 47.”
Trump is currently serving in the nation’s 47th presidential administration.
“James Comey just issued a call to action to murder the president of the United States,” Gabbard told Fox News Channel’s Jesse Watters, discussing Comey’s post declaring sea shells arranged to spell out “86 47“ to be “cool.“
Watters: “Are you buying that the former FBI director didn’t know what ‘86 Trump’ meant?”
Gabbard: “Absolutely not.
“That is an absolutely insane and ridiculous statement to make…especially coming from a guy, who is a former director of the FBI, a guy who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters, people who know and execute other humans and use this exact lingo of ‘86.’”
“As a former FBI Director and someone who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters, he knew exactly what he was doing and must be held accountable under the full force of the law.”
In mafia lingo, to “86” people means to take them eight miles out of town and bury their murdered bodies six feet deep in the ground.
James Comey just issued a call to action to murder the President of the United States.
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) May 16, 2025
As a former FBI Director and someone who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters, he knew exactly what he was doing and must be held accountable under the full force of the… pic.twitter.com/zvbu5Vf0zg
“We fully support the Secret Service investigation into Comey’s threat on President Trump’s life,” said the Director of National Intelligence.
Comey responded to backlash to his post by claiming that he knew that “86 47” was a “political message.”
Comey also knew that anti-Trump protesters recently used “86 47” to promote “a veiled call to execute the president,” Gabbard explained:
“The only reason that he knew was because, a little of a month ago, a bunch of anti-Trump, anti-Elon Musk protesters were proliferating the use of this ‘86 47’ slogan, which is a veiled call to execute the president of the United States.”
Comey should be in jail for his call to kill Trump, Gabbard said, noting that a person with far less public influence is currently in jail for threatening her life:
“Whatever his intent, I will tell you there is a guy in Georgia who was issuing threats on my life about a month ago and he is in jail today. He has been indicted with a crime, as he should have been, and he is in jail as we speak.”
“So, whatever James Comey’s intent, he and people like him need to be held to account, according to the law, which is something that he claims to have given his life for.”
“I am very concerned for the president’s life. We’ve already seen assassination attempts. I’m very concerned for his life. And James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,” Gabbard concluded.