Former CIA Director John Brennan said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that former FBI Director James Comey was not advocating violence with his social media post about President Donald Trump that featured a photo of seashells arranged to read, “86 47.”
Brennan said, “It’s unsurprising that someone like Tulsi Gabbard would say something like that, but there’s absolutely no basis or reason for a director of National Intelligence to comment at all on this matter, much less say that a former director of the FBI should be in prison. I know Jim Comey worked very closely with him, didn’t always agree with some of the decisions he made, but I think he has unimpeachable integrity from the standpoint of his commitment to the rule of law.”
He added, “There’s absolutely no way that Jim Comey would have been advocating any type of violence against the President of the United States, much less anyone. And it’s very unfortunate that we are in an era right now where individuals seize upon something like this and just fuel the fires.”
Brennan added, “As you pointed out, the term 86, you know, is used in the restaurant context and has been put on, you know, T-shirts for and against previous presidents. And throughout my career, I’ve never heard 86 be used for any type of intent to kill or assassinate someone. 86 is, you know, you discard something, you just ignore it. It’s not something that Jim Comey would have been advocating in terms of any type of violence. And again, you know, he took down the post. I think it was the right thing.”
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