CNN legal analyst Elie Honig slammed former FBI Director James Comey’s now-deleted social media post about President Donald Trump as “extremely reckless” – but made clear it was far from criminal.
Pushing back on MAGA allies calling for Comey to be locked up over the photo, Honig, a former federal prosecutor, dismissed the outrage as simply political speech, not a prosecutable threat.
“It’s ridiculous,” Honig said Thursday as he slapped down Trump administration officials calling for Comey to be federally investigated over his Instagram post, which included a photo of shells arranged to spell “86 47.” While Honig made clear the photo was “not criminal,” he still delivered critical words for the former FBI director.
“I am no fan of Jim Comey's,” Honig said bluntly. “I think posting this was extremely reckless, to use a phrase that he once used, and stupid.”
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Comey deleted the post shortly after it went viral and sparked outrage throughout MAGA world, saying he hadn’t realized the number “86” could be interpreted as a violent message, CNN reported.
“He has acknowledged that. He took it down. He said, ‘I should not have posted this,’” Honig told host Kaitlan Collins.
He added: “This is not a criminally chargeable threat against the president. It's political speech. It’s way too broad. It's stupid, it's reckless. It's not criminal. That's just hyperbole that you're hearing from the cabinet members.”
