Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asserted on Thursday that federal law enforcement is currently scrutinising a social media communiqué disseminated by erstwhile FBI Director James Comey, which she and fellow Republican interlocutors construe as an incitement to violence against President Donald Trump.

Comey, in a laconic Instagram post, captioned a photo of serendipitously arranged seashells as exhibiting a "cool shell formation on my beach walk," the marine detritus, with uncanny precision, appearing to delineate the numerals "86 47."

Several erstwhile Trump administration figures, Noem among them, alleged that Comey was overtly proselytizing for the assassination of Trump, the erstwhile 47th president. Noem subsequently asserted, "The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are currently investigating this egregious threat and will instigate a commensurate response."

Merriam-Webster, the lexicographical authority for The Associated Press, defines "86" as vernacular for ejection, disposal, or service refusal, observing that a nascent, albeit infrequent, sense denoting "to kill" remains outside their purview due to its recent emergence and limited attestation.

The aforementioned post has been expunged; Comey, in a subsequent mea culpa, elucidated, "Earlier, I uploaded an image depicting several seashells encountered during an ambulatory excursion along the littoral zone, under the erroneous presumption that they were devoid of any latent political signification. I was remiss in failing to apprehend that certain individuals impute a connotation of violent propensities to the numerical configuration they formed."

Comey's initial foray into the digital sphere ignited a firestorm of conservative indignation, culminating in Donald Trump Jr.'s vehement accusation that Comey was, in effect, advocating for the former president's assassination.

Incumbent FBI Director Kash Patel acknowledged cognizance of the aforementioned communiqué, subsequently entering into deliberation with the Secret Service and its Director.

James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political, and public liaison, observed that the ambassadorship was tendered during an exigent geopolitical juncture, predicated on the President's ongoing peregrinations throughout the Levant.

Blair's missive on X constitutes a bellicose *cri de coeur*, alleging that James Comey's actions represent a tacit *casus belli*, effectively inciting terrorist organisations and inimical foreign powers to assassinate the President of the United States during his diplomatic sojourn in the Middle East.

Comey, the former FBI Director (2013-2017), was summarily dismissed by Trump during the latter's inaugural term, a decision precipitated by the Bureau's investigation into putative links between Russian operatives and the Trump 2016 presidential bid, an episode later dissected in Comey's commercially successful memoir, "A Higher Loyalty".

Having transitioned into the realm of crime fiction, he is currently engaged in promotional activities for his latest literary offering, "FDR Drive," slated for release this coming Tuesday.