For those who have been in the military,

[MineralMan]

We all know that a polite request from a General is an order. Trump is CiC. He ordered Comey to drop it. Simple as can be.

[Wounded Bear]

1. True...

A request from a senior should be accepted as a command.

Seems like Comey was taking notes.

[elleng]

2. 'Order' vs 'Request'

[Jacquette]

3. I'm not in the military but

I have watched plenty of Gomer Pyle, USMC..will that do?

Can he stop paying taxes because he's nominally head of the IRS? Can he build a casino in the Grand Canyon because he's in charge of the National Parks?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. But Comey wasn't military.

The role of CiC relates only to the military, not civilian agencies. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States." Trump, in his capacity as CiC, couldn't order Comey to do squat because he wasn't Comey's CiC.

[MineralMan]

6. The point is that Trump intended it to be an order.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. OK, I get your point, but Comey either didn't take it as one, or

if he did, he sure didn't feel obligated to obey it.

[MineralMan]

8. Yes, but he knew what Trump meant.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Of course, which is why he wrote it all down.

[canetoad]

5. But Comey is a civilian

Is he still expected to follow orders?

[trof]

10. No! Quite the contrary.

As director of the FBI he is expected to be independent of politics.
The military CinC analogy doesn't hold here.
Besides, in the military you're obligated NOT to obey an unlawful order, which this sure would be.

[canetoad]

11. I thought so

Thank you.

[regnaD kciN]

12. You don't need to have been in the military...

...just as Trump never was. But the rules are the same in corporations headed by an autocratic, egocentric CEO: a "request" means "do it, or you're fired."