Notwithstanding the protestations of Attorney General Todd Blanche and others that it was a grand jury that indicted disgraced ex-FBI Director James Comey, one could be forgiven for thinking his current prosecution seems a bit petty on its face.
Comey faces a pair of charges: one for making a threat against President Donald Trump and another intriguingly tied to an interstate/foreign commerce violation — both over his decision in May 2025 to post an Instagram photo of seashells spelling out “86 47,” the radical Left’s dogwhistle code for political violence.
On the heels of a much bigger case against Comey for leaking classified information, which was dismissed on a technicality by a Clinton-appointed judge, the current case seems a bit like being named Miss Congeniality in a beauty contest. By lawfare standards, it is the lowest of low-hanging fruit.
But in contrast with the earlier case — which stemmed from the corrupt “Crossfire Hurricane” operation that the FBI, under Comey, waged in coordination with the Hillary Clinton campaign — the current case in the Eastern District of North Carolina is also eminently winnable.
Court records last week confirmed that just before Comey posted the offending Instagram photo, he received a text message from his wife, Patrice, that posited a less-problematic interpretation of the term “86” than the one Comey himself acknowledged in an interview with Stephen Colbert.
Comey literally admits that he knew the meaning of "86" when he made his instagram post. pic.twitter.com/uGFnGpoX5I
— Praying Medic (@prayingmedic) April 29, 2026
Prosecutors likely will argue that Comey better understood the military version — taken as a reference to Strike Fighter Squadron 86, which the U.S. Navy has long deployed in target-elimination missions — than the restaurant lingo for removing a menu item.
Another relative of the Comeys further confirmed the more violent interpretation, and their likely awareness of it, in a recently unearthed text.
BREAKING: A new court exhibit reveals a relative of James Comey sent a blistering text to wife Patrice Comey lambasting them for posting "a call for violence" against President Trump, asserting: "I have held my tongue for a long time, but I just can't do it anymore. You guys have…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 19, 2026
Thus, rather than provide plausible deniability as was intended, Patrice Comey’s text message may be offered as proof positive of premeditation, suggesting the threat was deliberate.
While other details of the DOJ’s case — including Comey’s references to his recently published thriller novel, "FDR Drive," and its glorification of political violence — have provided investigative reporter Paul Sperry with fascinating fodder for analysis, the discovery process and behind-the-scenes wrangling may prove to be more significant than the jury’s ultimate disposition.
The text messages surfaced when FBI investigators served Apple with a subpoena after the Comeys refused to provide an original copy of the “86 47” photo that contained key metadata, Sperry reported.
NEW: James Comey and his DC lawyer David Kelley refused to provide federal investigators the original photo Comey took of his "86 47" seashell threat on Trump (target of 2 prior ass*ssination tries) b/c it held key metadata, so the FBI had to serve Apple w/ a warrant to search…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 20, 2026
That raises worthwhile questions as to what other damning material Comey’s old agency may have retrieved from his electronic devices. Perhaps some of it is tied to ongoing probes of the Russia-gate conspiracy and various anti-Trump schemes like the “0xferd Comma” operation that have Comey’s prints all over them.
The Tides Have Turned
The seashell case is “fitting for Comey, who has a flair for the dramatic,” conservative watchdog Julie Kelly wrote in a recent post.
“[I]t’s only appropriate that the federal criminal case against him now involves a former mob boss; a disgruntled relative cooperating with the government; and revelations that, contrary to Comey’s story, he and his wife likely made the shell formation rather than ‘stumbled’ upon it during a beach walk,” Kelly added.
Most satisfying of all, though, is that the cascading house of cards Comey now faces bears a lot of resemblance to his own penchant for turning a molehill into a mountain of non-predicated process crimes.
For example, the decision to subpoena Comey’s phone records is a nice bookend to the leftist lawfare operations waged by Biden prosecutor-for-hire Jack Smith, whose fishing expeditions snared multiple congressional Republicans and even current FBI Director Kash Patel.
BREAKING: Jack Smith subpoenaed @Verizon for roughly TWO YEARS' worth of @FBIDirectorKash's private records, including his text and call logs, residential address and credit card number.
— Senate Judiciary Republicans (@SenJudiciaryGOP) March 24, 2026
New subpoenas made public by Chairman @ChuckGrassley, @SenRonJohnson and @SenTedCruz. pic.twitter.com/MgBSblUJRO
With the walls closing in on Comey in the “86 47” case, things could get even more interesting.
Should Comey strike a plea deal, he might become a secret weapon in the multiple conspiracy investigations overseen by DOJ prosecutor Joseph diGenova that are working to link top Obama officials to a politically motivated coup against Trump.
That sounds an awful lot like the strategy deployed by Comey himself — and by colleagues like special counsel Robert Mueller — to use relatively minor offenses from Trump allies as a means to apply pressure and chip away at the president’s defense against the now-discredited Steele Dossier.
While Trump himself emerged relatively unscathed from the Mueller probe, victims caught in the crossfire included Trump advisers Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and Michael Cohen.
All had their lives put through the wringer, and several served lengthy prison sentences — not because of anything linking them to a largely concocted claim of Russian collusion in the 2016 election, but for unrelated white-collar crimes or, worse yet, perjury traps devised by Comey’s crooked FBI surrogates.
The case against Cohen — Trump’s former personal lawyer, who was caught up in an FBI raid of his office and charged for making campaign “hush money” payouts to porn star Stormy Daniels — was particularly devastating.
Biden’s DOJ leveraged the resulting acrimony to use Cohen as its supposed star witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s brazenly contrived criminal case against Trump — the only one that succeeded, courtesy of a deeply biased judge and jury pool. Cohen later recanted his allegations.
In spite of everything, Trump and Cohen recently managed to mend fences.
“They weaponized you like nobody’s ever been weaponized — like few have been,” Trump said in an appearance Thursday on Cohen’s 77 WABC radio show.
Michael Cohen goes down memory Lane 2016 with President Trump pic.twitter.com/lwLyxV3VIq
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) August 21, 2026
Yet, Comey’s desire to stay away from North Carolina’s Butner Federal Correctional Complex could soon lead him to rival Cohen’s use as a deep-state asset, only this time on Trump’s behalf.
If nothing else, by virtue of his being subjected to the same lawfare process for which he helped set the precedent, Comey is guaranteed to receive a heaping dose of poetic justice.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy RedState's conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member