A rumor that circulated online in May 2025 claimed a Department of Government Efficiency audit uncovered that James Comey authorized a $16 million payment to himself while serving in his former role as FBI director. A similar rumor also mentioned Comey authorizing a $6 million payment. U.S. President Donald Trump, during his first term in the White House, abruptly fired Comey in May 2017, at a time when the bureau was investigating the 2016 Trump campaign's ties to Russian interests.
For example, on May 13, a Trump-supporting Instagram account posted a meme (archived) reading, "This is huge! DOGE audit just uncovered a $16 million payment — wired straight to Comey's private company. And get this: it was approved by Comey himself. Comey was asked for comment. He stayed silent."
(Image courtesy of @maga.support/Instagram)
Numerous users shared the rumor on Facebook (archived), LinkedIn (archived), Threads and X (archived). A Snopes reader also emailed, "Did James Comey write himself a 16 million dollar check from FBI funds?"
Some users seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo, as well as The Associated Press, CNN, Fox News and The Washington Post, found no news media outlets reporting this matter.
Rather, the rumor about Comey authorizing a $16 million or $6 million payment to himself while he was at the FBI originated with America's Last Line of Defense — a network of Facebook pages and websites that describe their content as satirical in nature.
The satirical origins of the rumor
On June 2, a manager of the ALLOD Facebook page posted a Facebook reel featuring a meme reading, "James Comey authorized a $16 million payment to himself while he was still head of the FBI." Days earlier, on May 28, the same page featured another Facebook reel with a meme reading, "DOGE would like former FBI Director James Comey to explain why he authorized a $6 million payment to himself in 2016."
Various pages affiliated with ALLOD also displayed the rumor in preceding weeks. A person managing the ALLOD-associated website The Dunning-Kruger Times also published an article (archived) on Feb. 28 that featured the headline "DOGE Demands James Comey Explain His $6 Million Self-Payment in 2016."
The fictional story spread in the weeks after Comey shared and then deleted an Instagram post showing a picture of seashells lined up to display the numbers "86 47." Comey's original caption read, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk." In mid-May, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a federal law enforcement investigation was underway, with her and other Republicans suggesting the post constituted a call for violence against Trump, the 47th U.S. president.
The Associated Press, reporting on Noem's announcement, cited Merriam-Webster's definition of "eighty-six," writing:
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning "to throw out," "to get rid of" or "to refuse service to." It notes: "Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of 'to kill.' We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use."
The latter note AP mentioned appears on a separate page on the Merriam-Webster website (archived).
Snopes has addressed many other ALLOD stories in the past, including the assertion that former President Bill Clinton received a $17 million helicopter as a "parting gift" from Saudi Arabia at the end of his presidency, as well as a rumor claiming former President Barack Obama received a $22.9 million donation from the Venezuelan government for the construction of an apartment on top of his presidential library.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.