The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al. in the 1990s, told an FBI case agent during a May 2026 phone call that Comey “had to know” what 86 meant, according to a sworn affidavit from his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald supporting Comey\u2019s motions to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n
Comey is facing a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump through his May 2025 “8647” seashell Instagram post.<\/p>\n
“On May 8, 2026, the case agent had a telephone conversation with Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano, the former Gambino crime family underboss who was one of the cooperating witnesses at the United States v. John Gambino trial,” the affidavit, filed last month, reads.<\/p>\n
“During the telephone conversation to discuss the logistics of his forthcoming interview, Mr. Gravano stated his belief that Mr. Comey had to know what the term ’86’ meant ‘as it related to killing someone,'” the court documents say.<\/p>\n
JAMES COMEY ’86 47′ SEASHELL CASE PROSECUTOR SUDDENLY STEPS DOWN, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY STEPS IN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Justice brought two federal charges against Comey<\/a> \u2013 threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce \u2013 in April for a social media post Comey made displaying a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “8647.”<\/p>\n BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: \u2018REST ASSURED\u2019 CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Prosecutors alleged the photo was a reference to killing Trump<\/a>, with “86” referring to a slang term for killing and “47” referring to Trump as the 47th U.S. president.<\/p>\n Comey\u2019s defense lawyer cited the FBI\u2019s interview with Gravano to challenge the claim that Comey\u2019s Gambino prosecution meant he understood “86” as a reference to killing. Though Gravano told agents Comey “had to know” the term\u2019s mob meaning, he said he did not recall ever discussing it with Comey. The filing also says FBI searches of the Gambino case materials found no references to “86.”<\/p>\n “During the recorded interview, which lasted 25 minutes, Gravano said that ’86’ generally means to ‘get rid of’ and to him, as a ‘gangster,’ it means ‘to kill,'” the affidavit said.<\/p>\n SAMMY GRAVANO REVEALS THE MOMENT HE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGAINST JOHN GOTTI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Gravano added that he believed Comey’s post was a call for violence, but not an admission that Comey himself would be carrying out said violence.<\/p>\n “While Gravano claimed that the post was a call for violence against President Trump<\/a> (‘let\u2019s kill Trump’), Gravano did not claim Mr. Comey\u2019s seashell post to be a statement threatening that Mr. Comey would personally kill President Trump,” the affidavit read.<\/p>\n Comey has claimed that he found \u2014 and did not arrange \u2014 the seashell display and did not realize some people interpreted “86 47” as a violent message.<\/p>\n FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS COMEY CHARGES HINGE ON INTENT EVIDENCE AND JURY INTERPRETATION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “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,” Comey told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace<\/a> in May 2025, alluding to the fact that he removed the post shortly after putting it up on Instagram.<\/p>\n Comey said he didn’t think it had any dark intentions.<\/p>\n “I actually didn’t think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, \u2018What a clever way to express a political view.’ The shells were the same color for each of the letters\u2026 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,” he said.<\/p>\n Fox News Digital contacted the FBI and a legal representative for James Comey for further comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents. Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. 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