Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could face a federal investigation into an “86 45” emblem visible in the background of a virtual appearance she made several years ago.
The term 86 is slang used in the restaurant industry to signal something should be removed, like a menu item that’s out of stock or a disorderly person in a bar. President Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th president.
The Justice Department secured an indictment Tuesday against former FBI Director James Comey over a photo he posted last year of seashells on a beach arranged to read “86 47,” which prosecutors say was meant to be a threat to Trump’s life.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters during a press conference Tuesday that “other instances of threats against the president of the United States … will be investigated.”
“You cannot compare,” Blanche said. “It’s not fair to the American people, it’s not fair to the defendant, and it’s certainly not fair to the prosecutors to compare, ‘well, if you did it here, why didn’t you do it there?’”
Trump’s 2020 campaign accused Whitmer of “encouraging assassination attempts” against the president by having the emblem visible in the background of a virtual appearance on “Meet the Press.”
The interview was recorded days after federal agents thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap and kill Whitmer.
When specifically asked whether Whitmer’s 2020 appearance would also be investigated, Blanche did not rule that possibility out.
“Every case is different. The facts are different. Who makes the threat matters? What the threat says matters,” Blanche said.
Hellbound and Down 