DOJ Turns to Gotti Turncoat ‘Sammy the Bull’ To Build Case Against Comey for ‘86 47’ Threat to Trump

James Comey spent years putting away mobsters. Now, in a remarkable twist, the Department of Justice is enlisting notorious former Gambino underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano to confirm that “86” means to whack someone in the jargon of the criminal underworld. Mr. Comey argues that the “claim that ‘86’ is mafia jargon for ‘kill’ is preposterous. If it weren’t made in the context of seeking to deprive a man of his liberty, it would be laughable.” The Supreme Court has held that for a statement to be prosecuted it must amount to a “true threat,” meaning that a reasonable person would I understand it to be actually menacing and not just rhetorical or hyperbolic. If the case is not dismissed, trial is set for September. Mr. Gravano, who rose to second in command of the Gotti crime family, has confessed to having a hand in 19 murders, including those of his best friend and brother-in-law. Those admissions came after he turned state witness in 1991 as part of the successful effort to convict the Gambino boss, John Gotti and some three dozen others. “I was a hero” is how Mr. Gravano put it to Diane Sawyer.While Mr. Comey did not directly prosecute Mr. Gravano, he was working on the organized crime beat at the Southern District of New York when “Teflon Don” Gotti’s conviction was secured at the Eastern District, just across the Manhattan Bridge. After the verdict the FBI declared “The Teflon is gone. The don is covered with Velcro, and all the charges stuck.” The role of Mr. Gravano, now 81, surfaced on Wednesday in a motion by Mr. Comey’s lawyers to dismiss the two charges their client is facing for an Instagram post last year featuring a photograph of seashells spelling out “8647,” which prosecutors say threatened the president. Mr. Comey accuses the government of lying about the “fundamental facts of the case” in order to obtain search warrants. He was charged in April.The defense writes that agents “spent months poring over records of Mr. Comey’s government service and interviewing people who worked on organized-crime cases more than thirty years ago” to prove that he would have known that “86” connotes violence. Merriam-Webster explains that the number is “slang meaning ‘to throw out,’ ‘to get rid of,’ or ‘to refuse service to.’ It comes from 1930s soda-counter slang meaning that an item was sold out.” The second number, “47,” refers to Mr. Trump’s place in the presidency. Mr. Comey, who captioned the post “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” quickly deleted the post and has denied that he intended any threat. The current director of the FBI, Kash Patel, reckons that “as the former Director of the FBI, he knew full well the attention and consequences of making such a post.” Mr. Comey asserts that he is protected by the First Amendment.Enter “Sammy the Bull.” Mr. Comey’s filing notes that while he “claimed that all law enforcement agents would be familiar with the term’s alternative organized crime meaning referring to murder, he also claimed that a ‘gangster would never use that term’ because they knew that law enforcement knew what the term meant.” He “did not indicate that he understood the seashells post to be a threat by Mr. Comey to carry out violence personally.”A separate motion to dismiss filed on Monday by Mr. Comey at the Eastern District of North Carolina — where the charges were handed up— asserts that forcing him “to stand trial for a statement opposing the President — even if he is ultimately acquitted — would itself be an unconstitutional punishment of free speech.” He adds that “merchandise featuring ‘86 44,’ ‘86 45,’ ‘86 46,’ and ‘86 47’ slogans is widely available at large online retailers like Amazon and has been purchased thousands of times.”Mr. Gravano’s lawyers tell ABC News that their client, a former boxer and a son of Bensonhurst, is “happy to appear and testify truthfully” at Mr. Comey’s trial. As part of his plea deal, Mr. Gravano served five years in prison and was released into the Witness Protection Program. Soon afterwards, he was convicted for launching a major ecstasy trafficking organization, and was sentenced to two decades behind bars. He was released in 2017.

DOJ Turns to Gotti Turncoat ‘Sammy the Bull’ To Build Case Against Comey for ‘86 47’ Threat to Trump

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