Overview

• James Comey’s since-deleted May 15 Instagram image showed seashells arranged as “86 47,” which many Republicans interpreted as a call to assassinate the 47th president.
• FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News the former director’s beachside post triggered a nationwide surge of copycat threats requiring new investigations.
• The bureau has pulled personnel from child sex predator investigations, fentanyl trafficking probes and counterterrorism work to screen potential threats against President Trump.
• Comey has defended the shell arrangement as “totally innocent” and said he does not expect any criminal charges or further action from the administration.
• Patel reiterated accusations that Comey abused the FISA court process in 2016 by relying on discredited intelligence to surveil a political opponent.