James Comey

“I don't see it the way some people are still saying it is, but again, I don't want any part of any violence. I've never been associated with violence, and so that's why I took it down,”

James Comey · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-22

James Comey explained why he took down his social media post displaying seashells.

“I actually didn't think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, ‘What a clever way to express a political view.' The shells were the same color for each of the letters… It took a lot of work. Somebody with artistic flair did that, and I have a hard time believing it was anybody with a dark intention, and it certainly was no dark intention on my part or my spouse's part,”

James Comey · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-22

James Comey stated that he did not believe the seashell arrangement was created with dark intentions.

“It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,”

James Comey · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19

Comey said this after deleting the Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read '8647' following backlash that it was a threat against Trump.

“I’ll be OK if it sells books”

James Comey · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19

Comey allegedly texted his publishing agent this response after his seashell post went viral, according to government filings.