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Podcast giant Joe Rogan slammed the Trump Justice Department’s recent indictment of former FBI director James Comey on Friday.
“It’s nuts. It’s nuts,” Rogan said on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The DOJ made waves this week, indicting Comey on two counts in North Carolina, including threatening the President, over his viral Instagram post last year showing seashells in the sand spelling out “86 47.” Comey alleged he and his wife stumbled across the message while walking on the beach and that she encouraged him to take a photo and share it. He later deleted the photo amid backlash.
The interpretation of “86” has widely been debated, ranging from a restaurant term meaning “to get rid of” to calling for murder.
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“You’re going after someone for something that’s just silly. 86 47 is get rid of 47,” Rogan said. “But it’s just arresting a guy for that is nuts.”
Rogan agreed with a guest that the indictment is “retaliation” against Comey for his actions leading up to Russiagate that plagued President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Trump fired Comey as FBI Director shortly into his first term in 2017 and the two have been at odds ever since.
“They’re just looking for any reason, but it seems like there should be other reasons,” Rogan said. “Like, if the guy really was dirty you should have something on him other than this seashell picture.”
“Trump can take a shot, but not a joke,” guest Mark Normand said.
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Rogan, who supported Trump in the 2024 election, linked the Comey indictment to what he called the “crazy precedent” that was set by the Trump administration when it deployed masked ICE agents into cities across the country.
“Yeah, I understand you want the undocumented criminals out of the country. I agree. However, you’re setting a precedent for militarized people with seven weeks training to be walking around with f—ing weapons of war and flack jackets with no ID and masks on. That’s all I’m saying. This is a slippery f—ing slope you’re going down,” Rogan said.
LEGAL EXPERTS WARN COMEY ‘86 47’ INDICTMENT FACES FIRST AMENDMENT HURDLES
Legal experts across the political spectrum have cast doubt on whether the indictment would result in a guilty verdict. George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital the DOJ “would face a monumental challenge under the First Amendment.”
“In my view, the image itself is clearly protected speech,” Turley said. “Absent some other unknown facts or elements, it would be unlikely to survive a threshold constitutional challenge.”
Comey appeared undeterred by the charges, saying in a statement, “I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go.”
Last fall, a federal judge dismissed false statement charges that were made against Comey regarding testimony he gave to Congress on whether he had authorized leaks to the press about the Russia investigation.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.
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