John Brennan Makes Himself Look Worse With Jaw-Dropping Defense of James Comey on '86 47' Post

Former FBI Director Jim Comey created a firestorm with his post about the shells he found on the beach that formed the message "86 47." Many interpreted that as a threat against the life of President Donald Trump, given the commonly-understood meaning of the term 86 — meaning to kill or get rid of someone — and "47" being a reference to the 47th president.

Indeed, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got into some trouble when she gave an interview to "Meet the Press" in 2020 as the national campaign co-chair for Joe Biden to speak against Trump, and people caught sight of an "86 45" behind her in the shot. So it wasn't even the first time the term or the controversy over it hit the news.

Comey ultimately took down the post. But he also claimed he didn't know what the term meant, that he didn't realize it could be interpreted as anything violent. That seems an astonishing thing for a former FBI Director and prosecutor to say: How could anyone in that position not know that? So we're left to conclude that either we had someone in that position who was ignorant or someone who's selling us a song and dance now. Either way, not good.

Wait, What? Did James Comey Just Threaten to 'Get Rid of' President Trump?

But hey, at least he has former CIA Director John Brennan coming to his defense. Oh, and guess what Brennan has to say?

John Brennan: James Comey is a man of unimpeachable integrity and didn’t know what “86” meant.

Conservatives are the real problem for “seizing” on it and “fueling the fires” against him. pic.twitter.com/NR8IVx64hg
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 17, 2025

Brennan stated that Comey had "unimpeachable integrity from the standpoint of his commitment to the rule of law." He said he didn't think Comey would be advocating any violence against the president, "much less anyone." Imagine the humor of Brennan talking about anyone's integrity.

What's the real problem here, according to Brennan? It's the people who "seize" upon something like this who are "fueling the fires," he said. Is "seizing" like "Republican pouncing"? How dare they react to Comey's post! Those fiends!

Then Brennan claimed it was "used in the restaurant context." "Throughout my career, I've never heard 86 be used for any type of intent to kill or assassinate someone," he said. Seriously? That's a bit jaw-dropping, to me, and you are blinking a lot there, John.

This was the former head of the CIA? He's saying he didn't know this common usage of the term? So he's trying to defend Comey, but he makes himself look sillier with such a ridiculous defense. If they didn't know what it meant, then they should never have had their jobs. If Comey didn't know what it meant, why was he posting it?

If you didn't know Comey was problematic, Brennan defending him would confirm it. I think it's safe to say not many people are buying what Brennan is trying to sell here.

If MSNBC thinks pulling out Brennan helps Comey, it only makes Brennan look worse. And if we didn't already know how worthless MSNBC was, we would know it from them giving Brennan a platform.

Editor's Note: The Deep State is working overtime to subvert President Trump's agenda and the will of the people.

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