Former FBI director James Comey said he planned to stay out of politics but the erosion of rule of law under President Donald Trump‘s administration lured him back.
Comey told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Friday that he was trying to “withdraw” from public life after Trump won the 2024 election, hoping to spend more time with his family and write books. But after the Trump administration’s large-scale upending of the federal government, Comey said he felt that he could no longer stay silent.
“The reason I’m dressed in my old uniform is to remind myself, that’s the coward’s way,” Comey said. “You must stand up and speak.”
Comey’s made a big splash back into the politocs after he posted a photo to Instagram showing seashells arranged into the message, “8647,” referencing Trump as the 47th president.
The post brought widespread blowback and ridicule from Trump and conservative commentators alike, alleging it was an “assassination message.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard ramped up the rhetoric as she told Fox News that Comey should be “put behind bars for this.”
Yet Comey, whom Trump fired in 2017, said he wasn’t aware of how people interpreted the numbers “86,” which has traditionally meant for something to be removed.
You mean to tell me, as the former Head of the FBI, @Comey you don’t know what 8647 means? You’re either:1. incompetent 2. hate America3. finally being honest about your motives 4. Or all of the above pic.twitter.com/xgdRQBV0Sp
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) May 16, 2025
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey said after deleting the initial picture. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
Comey said he has been interviewed by the Secret Service twice over the post, and he told Psaki that he expects their investigation will “go away”—at least until Trump decides to go on another Truth Social rampage.
“I expect it’ll go away cause there’s nothing there, and then Trump will wake up in the middle of the night Truthing, or whatever it’s called, cause he’s obsessed in some weird way,” Comey said.
On the heels of Trump installing his loyalists in key law enforcement positions—including FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and newly named U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro—Comey said it was especially important for him to speak out in support of following the rule of law.
“Everyone who can speak, I can speak about the rule of law especially, needs to be out there because there are real serious threats,” Comey said. “The only thing that’s necessary for them to triumph is for good men and women to be silent.”
The post James Comey Reveals How Trump Pulled Him Back into Politics appeared first on The Daily Beast.
