James Comey: Ex-FBI boss investigated for seashell photo seen as threat to Trump

Trump says the image was a call to assassinate him - but the former FBI chief says he opposes violence.

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Comey posted on Instagram a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers "8647", which he captioned: "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."

The number 86 is a slang term whose definitions include "to reject" or "to get rid of", according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which also notes that it has more recently been used as a term meaning "to kill". And Trump is the 47th US president.

Comey insisted he did not know what the numbers meant, but Trump has disputed that.

Comey deleted the Instagram post, saying in a follow-up that he "assumed [the sea shells] were a political message".