Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Trump administration’s new indictment against former FBI Director James Comey is “not just about a single Instagram post” of seashells.
But Blanche declined to disclose what other evidence the government might have against Comey, whom President Donald Trump has repeatedly singled out as one of his top political foes.
“This is not just about a single Instagram post,” Blanche told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “This is about a body of evidence that the grand jury collected over the series of about 11 months. That evidence was presented to the grand jury.”
Blanche said he was not “permitted” to share the evidence that led a grand jury in North Carolina to charge Comey with threatening the president over a photo he posted to social media last year of seashells on a beach arranged to form “86 47.”
“At the trial — a public trial that will be open to the public — everybody in this country will know exactly what evidence the government has against Mr. Comey,” Blanche said.
“Rest assured that the career assistant United States attorneys in North Carolina, the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents that investigated this case didn’t just look at this Instagram post and walk away,” Blanche said separately on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding, “Rest assured it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted.”
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During his NBC appearance, Blanche also gave assurances that not everyone who posts the “86 47” message will be charged with threatening the president.
“That phrase is used constantly,” Blanche acknowledged of the combined numbers “86” — meaning to cancel — and “47” being the 47th U.S. president. “Every one of those statements do not result in indictments.”
Despite calling Comey’s appointment as FBI Director the “biggest disappointment” of his Senate career, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., lambasted his indictment as baseless.
“I can’t find any evidence where 86 is used to as a call for violence,” Tillis said on CNN. The retiring North Carolina Republican said he is familiar with the term as one rooted in the restaurant industry when a menu item is canceled.
“It has its roots at ‘86ing’ the menu or ‘86ing’ the product,” Tillis said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.