11
The Line America Swore It Would Never Cross
How a President Tried to Put His Old Enemy in Jail: The James Comey Story Explained Simply
What’s This All About?
Imagine if your school principal didn’t like one specific teacher—let’s call him Mr. Comey. For eight whole years, the principal tells everyone Mr. Comey is a criminal who should go to jail. The principal tries to get the school police to arrest him, fires people who say "no," and even uses the security team that’s supposed to protect the principal to spy on Mr. Comey instead.
That’s basically what happened in real life between former President Donald Trump and former FBI Director James Comey.
The Backstory: How It Started
Important Point: This wasn’t a sudden decision. Trump has been publicly attacking Comey since 2017—that’s 8 years of saying "this person should be in jail."
The Timeline in Simple Steps
- 2017 — Trump fires Comey as FBI Director (Comey was supposed to have a 10-year term)
- 2018 — Trump tweets that Comey is a "LEAKER & LIAR" who leaked classified info and should be prosecuted
- First Term (2017–2021) — Career lawyers at the Justice Department say "no, we don’t prosecute people just because the president hates them"
- Second Term (2025–present) — Trump tries again, this time with loyalists who will do what he asks
The "Seashells" Incident: What Actually Happened
This is where it gets really strange. Here’s the entire "crime" Comey is accused of:
| What Comey Did | What Trump Claims It Means |
|---|---|
| Posted an Instagram photo of seashells on a beach spelling "86 47" | "86" means "kill the president" (Trump is the 47th president) |
| Deleted the post immediately when people got upset | Doesn’t matter—it was a death threat |
| Explained: "86" is restaurant slang for "remove/cancel an order" — he meant "vote him out" | Insists it means assassination |
Important Point: "86" is common restaurant slang. If a kitchen runs out of salmon, they "86" the salmon. It means "we don’t have this anymore" or "get rid of this." It does not inherently mean "kill someone."
Why Legal Experts Say This Isn’t a Crime
Even if Comey meant "get rid of Trump" (which he says he didn’t), that’s still protected free speech.
The First Amendment Rule (Simplified)
The Supreme Court has said for decades:
- You can say terrible things about public officials
- You can even say "someone should hurt this politician"
- Unless you’re specifically telling a crowd right now: "Let’s go attack that person today!"
Example: Trump’s own January 6th speech ("fight like hell") couldn’t be prosecuted under this same rule.
How Trump Pressured the Justice Department
This reads like a story about a boss who keeps firing managers until one agrees to do something wrong.
The Chain of Pressure
- Trump pressures U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert to charge Comey
- Siebert resigns rather than bring a fake case
- Trump replaces him with Lindsey Halligan (inexperienced, loyal to Trump)
- Halligan brings charges → Judge throws them out (she wasn’t legally appointed)
- Trump orders Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring new charges
- Bondi fails/refuses → Trump fires her
- Trump installs Todd Blanche (another loyalist) as Acting AG
- Blanche brings the "seashells" indictment
Important Point: Trump accidentally posted a private message to his Attorney General on public social media (Truth Social), basically saying: "Comey, Schiff, and others are guilty as hell. Justice must be served NOW!!!" He didn’t even try to hide the political motivation.
The Secret Service Part: Really Concerning
Here’s the scariest part that most people missed:
What Happened
- The Secret Service (whose job is protecting the president) started following Comey
- They tracked his phone location
- Legally, they can only do this if there’s "an imminent threat to life or limb"
- A Secret Service official wrote in a memo: "At the time we did not believe anyone’s life was in danger and legally it was a bad idea"
- But a top Justice Department official demanded it → Secret Service did it anyway
Why This Matters
Important Point: In a democracy, police and security agencies follow laws, not the whims of the leader. When they ignore the law because the president is angry, they start acting like secret police—the kind authoritarian countries have.
What This Means for the Future
The article ends with a warning that should worry everyone, regardless of party:
| Current Situation | Future Danger |
|---|---|
| Trump is clumsy — he posts his schemes publicly, fires people messily, gets caught | A smarter, more disciplined president could do the same things without getting caught |
| Comey has money and lawyers to fight back | Regular citizens wouldn’t stand a chance |
| Courts are throwing out the bad cases | Future leaders might pack courts with loyal judges |
Summary: The Big Picture in Plain English
- For 8 years, Trump has publicly said Comey belongs in jail
- Multiple Justice Department officials refused to prosecute because there was no evidence of a crime
- Trump kept replacing them until he found people who would do what he wanted
- The "crime" is a seashell photo using restaurant slang ("86" = "remove")
- Legal experts agree: This is protected speech, not a crime
- Trump used the Secret Service to track Comey’s phone — illegally, by their own admission
- The clumsiness is the only thing stopping this from working — a competent authoritarian would be far more dangerous
FAQ: Questions You Might Have
Is James Comey actually a criminal?
No. He was never charged with anything during Trump’s first term. The Inspector General criticized some of his decisions (like how he handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation), but that’s not a crime.
What does "86 47" actually mean?
"86" = restaurant slang for "remove/cancel/get rid of" (e.g., "86 the salmon — we’re out"). 47 = Trump is the 47th president. Comey says he meant "vote him out." Trump insists it means "kill him." Even if Trump’s interpretation were right, advocating for a politician’s removal isn’t a crime.
Can a president really order the Justice Department to prosecute someone?
Technically, the president is the head of the executive branch. But there’s a long-standing norm (since Watergate) that the Justice Department operates independently on specific cases. Trump has shattered that norm.
Why did the Secret Service track Comey’s phone?
A top Justice Department official demanded it. The Secret Service’s own memo says they didn’t think anyone was in danger and it was legally questionable — but they did it anyway.
Could this happen to a regular person?
Yes, and that’s the point of the article. Comey has resources to fight back. A normal citizen targeted by a president with loyal prosecutors and security agencies would be crushed. The "clumsiness" is the only safety valve right now.
Final Thought: This isn’t really about James Comey. It’s about whether a president can use the full weight of the federal government — prosecutors, police, intelligence agencies — to punish personal enemies. The answer, so far, is "only if he’s incompetent about it." That should terrify us all.
