Forget the Seashells: James Comey Should Be Charged for Lying to Congress

James Comey is back in the headlines again. This time, not for leaking memos or lying under oath, but for something arguably even more unhinged. On May 15, he posted an image to Instagram showing seashells carefully arranged to spell out the number "8647." To the uninitiated, that might seem cryptic or meaningless. But anyone even vaguely familiar with cultural shorthand can see what Comey was getting at.

“86” has long been used as slang as a rhyme to “nix” and stands for “get rid of.” The origin goes back to restaurant lingo, but over the years it’s taken on a far more menacing edge. As for “47,” that’s not hard to decode: it refers to the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Now, even if we leave aside how deeply weird this is coming from a former FBI director, it gets creepier still when you realize that May 15—the day Comey posted this—just so happened to be the 8,647th day since September 11, 2001. You don’t need to believe in numerology to understand what’s being implied here. In total, the message was: “8647,” on day 8647 since 9/11. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a threat wrapped in what Comey probably saw as plausible deniability.

After public backlash, Comey issued a statement claiming that he didn’t understand the meaning of the numbers he posted and denied that he was encouraging violence. But the timing, the precision, and the coded messaging all suggest otherwise. In fact, the Secret Service have already visited Comey to ask him about the post, which makes sense not just as a response, but as part of his plan. That visit now functions as a sort of built-in alibi: “Look, I was questioned and cleared.” But of course, nothing has been “cleared.” The message went out, and it remains.

Comey’s May 16th “clarification”

And let’s be honest: nothing will come of the seashell stunt. Not legally. It’s too ambiguous, and Comey knows that. He’s a cunning man. He was counting on ambiguity. He baited the trap, got the attention he wanted, sold some books, and probably had the Secret Service visit already factored into his plan. And yes, he does have a new book out.

This is all part of the same playbook Comey ran in 2017. Back then, he orchestrated his own firing, which he immediately leveraged into becoming the anti-Trump Resistance’s new martyr. Book deals, cable news hero status, and a special counsel probe that paralyzed the Trump presidency—all of it flowed from his move.

But there’s something more important going on here, something bigger than seashells and headlines. The real story, which the media refuses to touch, is that Comey should have been prosecuted long ago, not for cryptic social media threats but for knowingly participating in one of the most dangerous and dishonest political operations in modern American history: the Russiagate hoax.

Comey opened an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign for collusion with Russia, even though he had been explicitly warned that the whole thing was a Clinton campaign smear. We know this because the CIA informed the Obama White House on July 28, 2016 that Hillary Clinton had authorized a plan to link Trump to Russian intelligence in order to distract from her private email server scandal. The information was passed along by CIA Director John Brennan. There’s even a memo.

According to the declassified notes, Brennan briefed Obama and others in the White House about this plan. And Brennan also sent the same intelligence to James Comey. That much is on the record. There’s even reason to believe Comey may have been present in that White House meeting—someone with the initials “JC” was, and the full attendee list has never been officially disclosed.

So let’s be clear: Comey knew the Trump-Russia narrative was manufactured. He knew the Steele dossier was fiction. He knew the Clinton campaign had planted the story. And still, he allowed the FBI to launch a full-scale investigation into soon-to-be president Trump based on lies. And when Trump won the election, Comey doubled down.

He didn't just go along with it. He drove the hoax. He signed the FISA warrants. He oversaw the witch hunt. He publicly feigned ignorance while privately advancing a false narrative. When Congress came calling, he lied again and again.

Which brings us to the point. There is a crime that Comey can and should be charged with. One that is provable. One that falls well within the statute of limitations. And one that, unlike the seashells, he likely hasn’t prepared a defense for.

On September 30, 2020, Comey testified before Congress and claimed to have no recollection of being briefed on the Clinton plan to smear Trump with Russia collusion. Specifically when asked about the Clinton plan, Comey answered: “That doesn't ring any bells with me.” When he was given a chance to change his answer, he insisted it did not ring a bell. That was a lie and we can prove it, since Brennan himself confirmed Comey was given a referral about the Clinton plan.

Comey also denied knowing anything about Igor Danchenko, the so-called “primary sub-source” for the Steele dossier. But Danchenko had already admitted to the FBI on January 24, 2017, i.e. the very same day Comey sent two rogue agents to entrap General Michael Flynn, that the dossier was nothing more than gossip he shared with old drinking buddies. In other words, it was a hoax within a hoax. But instead of blowing the whistle, the FBI buried Danchenko’s admission, paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars, and made him a confidential human source to shield him from scrutiny. Comey claims he knew nothing about any of that. That too was a lie. Another lie he told Congress was claiming he first learned about the Steele dossier in late September 2016. Yet we know Steele himself handed the dossier over to the FBI on July 5, 2016, and it quickly made its way to FBI leadership.

And unlike the seashell post, these are lies that can be prosecuted. The five-year statute of limitations on Comey’s September 30, 2020 testimony hasn’t yet expired. There is still time. The paper trail exists and is now accessible to Kash Patel, the new FBI Director, and Dan Bongino, his deputy. Between them, they have the authority and clearance to retrieve the records proving Comey was briefed about Clinton’s hoax and the Steele dossier, that he knew about Danchenko, and that he repeatedly lied under oath when he claimed otherwise. Comey’s defense—summed up as “I do not recall”—is laughable on its face. But with the right paper trail, it becomes provably false.

But there’s one more catch: if the Department of Justice is serious, they must not charge Comey in Washington, DC, or Northern Virginia. Those jurisdictions are hopelessly compromised. No jury there will ever convict a Democratic official or a Resistance operative. We’ve seen it time and time again.

What should be done instead is exactly what the Department of Justice did with meme-maker Douglass Mackey. He was charged in New York—far from where he lived or worked—on the theory that people in New York might have seen his tweet. If that logic is good enough to jail a guy over a joke meme, it’s good enough to prosecute James Comey for defrauding the entire country.

Just like the Department of Justice forum-shopped for Mackey, the same should be done here. Comey should be charged in a venue where a jury won’t bend over backwards to protect the anti-Trump “Resistance.” That means skipping Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia entirely. Pick a deep red venue—say, Oklahoma—where the law still applies evenly and where Comey’s lies will be seen for what they were: deliberate, damaging, and disqualifying.

In fact, Comey’s lies infected the global order. The Russia hoax ruined Trump’s first term, poisoned public discourse, and set the stage for the war in Ukraine. If anyone deserves to face legal consequences, it’s James Comey.

Unfortunately, even most Republicans still haven’t grasped the scale of the betrayal. They’re chasing distractions while the statute clock runs out. So don’t waste time. Forget the seashells. Forget the Instagram post. Focus on what matters. There’s still a window to charge James Comey for lying under oath. Use it.

Because if the FBI Director can lie to Congress about the biggest political scandal in decades and walk away untouched, then the system isn’t just broken, it’s beyond repair.