Seashells? Really?
Embarrassingly, the Department of Justice indicted James Comey for a stupid social media post with shells in the pattern of the numbers 86 47. 86, as in “get rid of,” and 47 as in the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
While it is true that 86 can be construed to mean “kill,” the likeliest origin of the expression “to 86” someone is in rhyming slang. 86 stood for “nix.” In criminal slang, 86 can mean to kill or dispose of something. 86 47 has become a numerical handwave on liberal and progressive merchandise during the Trump era. Posting an image of it to express anti-Trump sentiment is not a crime, even if it’s James Comey doing it.
To paraphrase the famous Russell Kirk line about Dwight Eisenhower, the former FBI director isn’t a would-be assassin; he’s a sanctimonious Trump hater.
Comey quickly deleted the post, saying he didn’t realize the potentially violent connotation. Regardless, the image is clearly protected speech. When conservative commentator Jack Posobiec posted 86 46 on social media during the Biden years, he wasn’t investigated or indicted. Similarly, Gretchen Whitmer appeared on a television interview with a figurine displaying the numbers 86 45 — aimed at Trump the first time around. Neither was she targeted by law enforcement. This is textbook selective enforcement against someone Trump loathes, which alone would be a basis for dismissal.
The indictment adds nothing to the case against Comey, only citing the image of the shells; this isn’t a grand jury indicting a ham sandwich but a scrap of day-old bread.
The indictment’s language has to be strained beyond breaking point to claim that a “reasonable recipient” of Comey’s post would read it as a serious expression of intent to do harm. The timing here is obvious. Coming less than a month after Trump dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi, having complained that she wasn’t prosecuting enough of his political opponents, the new Acting AG Todd Blanche, to his shame, is trying to do better.
This is the second time Trump has tried this losing strategy. Comey’s first indictment, on charges of lying to Congress, was dismissed after a federal judge ruled that the prosecutor, a former personal lawyer for Trump, had been unlawfully appointed. Now, the DOJ, having egg on its face, comes back with an even weaker case built on a photo of seashells? C’mon.
A ruling in the administration’s favor would effectively criminalize speech against this president. The sooner this case is tossed and this sorry episode forgotten, the better.