Kash Patel (Getty Images)
The former FBI director has said in multiple public interviews since that he did not have any dark intentions in sharing the photo and that his wife had associated it with her time as a restaurant server to mean taking something off the menu.
According to Merriman Webster, "86" is slang that can mean "to throw out," "to get rid of" or "to refuse service to." Trump, of course, is the 47th president.
"I regret the distraction and the controversy around it," Comey said of the incident on MSNBC. "But again, it’s hard to have regret about something that, even in hindsight, looks to me to be totally innocent."
Comey is not currently under investigation for the post and has said that neither he nor his wife, who was with him at the time, believed it had any nefarious meaning.
Still, the Comeys' repeated public statements and his compliance with Secret Service personnel have done little to assuage some Trump administration officials, including Patel, who now has Comey's former job.
"Tragically, this case was predictable," Patel told Fox News Digital on Tuesday in regard to Stinson's alleged threats.
FLORIDA MAN THREATENS TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP, DESTROY NEW YORK WITH MISSILES IN 911 CALLS: REPORT
Donald Trump (Rick Scuteri)
In February, Stinson posted on his X account, "Sure. This is war. Sides will be drawn. Antifa always wins in the end. Violence is inherently necessary."
The most recent post referenced in the document was published on BlueSky on June 11, when Stinson allegedly wrote, "When he dies, the party is going to be yuge."
Comey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on Patel's remarks nor on any role that the Instagram post in question may have inadvertently played in the case.
News of Stinson's arrest comes after a federal grand jury indicted a San Bernardino County, California, man just weeks earlier for allegedly threatening to assassinate then-President-elect Donald Trump after he was elected to a second White House term.
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"This defendant is charged with threatening the life of our President – a man who has already survived two deranged attempts on his life," Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time.
"The Department of Justice takes these threats with the utmost seriousness and will prosecute this crime to the fullest extent of the law," Bondi added.
Fox News Digital's Andrea Margoli contributed to this report.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-director-patel-says-man-who-threatened-trump-used-same-message-comeys-destructive-instagram-post