After the former F.B.I. director put a picture on Instagram of seashells arranged to say “86 47,” law enforcement tailed his car and tracked his cellphone, steps usually reserved for serious threats.

Authorities tailed Comey and his wife, Patrice, as they drove from their North Carolina vacation to their Washington, D.C., area, according to unnamed officials

Former FBI director James Comey was trailed physically and digitally by the Secret Service the day after posting what the Trump administration believed to be an assassination threat directed at the president.