All posts tagged: Collusion

James Comey indicted over ‘8647’ post Trump called a threat

James Comey indicted over ‘8647’ post Trump called a threat

Published by Sam Flores

FILE PHOTO: FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. Joshua Roberts | Reuters Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted on charges alleging he threatened President Donald Trump when he posted an image of seashells spelling out “8647” on his Instagram account last year, a source familiar with the matter told MS NOW. The charges, which have yet to be made public, mark the second time that Comey has been indicted in a federal case since Trump’s second presidential term began. The indictment was revealed three days after Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after an alleged assassin ran toward the ballroom where the event was being held. The Trump administration and its allies have accused Democrats of inciting the attack by spreading incendiary rhetoric about Trump. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on the reported charges. The White House referred CNBC …

U.S. soldier arrested for Polymarket bets on Maduro capture

U.S. soldier arrested for Polymarket bets on Maduro capture

Published by Sam Flores

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026 in New York City. Xny/star Max | Gc Images | Getty Images A U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant was arrested for allegedly using classified information to make extremely profitable bets on the Polymarket prediction market related to the American military mission that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the Department of Justice said Thursday. The sergeant, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, “was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve,” which apprehended Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in early January, the DOJ said. Van Dyke, 38, wagered a total of about $33,000 in 13 or so bets in the week leading up to that operation, with the knowledge that the United States was secretly planning military action against Maduro, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court …

Kristi Noem purse thief Mario Leiva gets prison sentence

Kristi Noem purse thief Mario Leiva gets prison sentence

Published by Sam Flores

Kristi Noem, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during a news conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. Valerie Plesch | Bloomberg | Getty Images A Chilean man who admitted stealing then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci handbag as part of a string of purse thefts in Washington, D.C., last year was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison, the Department of Justice said. The crook, Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, is residing in the U.S. illegally and will be subject to deportation at the end of his sentence, the DOJ said. Bustamante Leiva was arrested in late April 2025, less than a week after he entered the D.C. restaurant Capital Burger and snatched the purse that — unbeknownst to him — belonged to Noem, who at the time was one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent Cabinet officials. Noem was at the restaurant dining with her family for Easter. At the time of the theft, she was under Secret Service …

Gates Foundation reviewing Jeffrey Epstein ties, will slash staff: WSJ

Gates Foundation reviewing Jeffrey Epstein ties, will slash staff: WSJ

Published by Sam Flores

Bill Gates speaks during the Gates Foundation’s first global Goalkeepers event in the Nordics, which is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 22, 2026. TT News Agency | Stefan Jerrevang | Via Reuters The Gates Foundation has launched an external review of the philanthropy’s past ties with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. To cut costs, the Gates Foundation will eliminate up to 500 jobs, or about 20% of its staff, by 2030, the Journal reported, citing an email to staff that the newspaper reviewed announcing both the job cuts and Epstein ties review. “This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now,” Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman reportedly said in the memo. The Journal said the foundation, which has a 2026 budget of about $9 billion, plans to cap operating expenses at $1.25 billion. The Gates Foundation was founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates. Gates is scheduled to be …

ICE agent charged with assault by Minnesota prosecutors

ICE agent charged with assault by Minnesota prosecutors

Published by Sam Flores

Members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stand at the scene after a driver of a vehicle was shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 7, 2026. Tim Evans | Reuters An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been charged with two counts of assault related to a road rage incident by state prosecutors in Minnesota, who have issued a nationwide warrant for his arrest. The ICE agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., is accused of pointing his duty gun at the heads of two people in another car on Feb. 5 as he tried to pass them while illegally driving in his unmarked SUV on the shoulder of a highway in Minneapolis, prosecutors said Thursday at a press conference. The incident came on the heels of the killings in January of two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents in Minneapolis, amid the Trump administration’s controversial Operation Metro Surge immigration enforcement actions in the Twin Cities. Those killings, and other incidents involving federal immigration enforcement agents in the Twin Cities, remain under investigation by …

SantaCon promoter arrested for charity fraud

SantaCon promoter arrested for charity fraud

Published by Sam Flores

SantaCon founder, Stefan Pildes leaves federal court after being arrested on April 15, 2026 in New York City. Edna Leshowitz | Getty Images The president of SantaCon was arrested on Wednesday on a federal criminal indictment accusing him of using the ticketed Christmas bar-crawl event to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for charity to his personal use, New York federal prosecutors said. The defendant, Stefan Pildes, claimed he did not receive any compensation from SantaCon, according to the indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. But the 50-year-old Pildes allegedly diverted funds from the event to a “slush fund” to pay for extensive renovations to a lakefront property in New Jersey, luxury vacations in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Vail, Colorado, concert tickets, extravagant meals, and a luxury vehicle, prosecutors said. About $124,000 of the SantaCon funds were spent toward leasing a luxury apartment in Manhattan, and another $100,000 was invested in a boutique resort in Costa Rica founded by a friend of Pildes, the indictment said. Pildes …

Judge dismisses Trump B defamation lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ

Judge dismisses Trump $10B defamation lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch. Julia Demaree Nikhinson | Jonathan Ernst | Reuters A federal judge in Florida on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against media baron Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, which claimed the newspaper defamed Trump with a story saying the president had sent a “bawdy” 50th birthday letter to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Trump will be given the chance to file a new amended lawsuit by April 27 in the case about the letter that the Journal published in July 2024, Judge Darrin Gayles said in his ruling in U.S. District Court in Miami. Gayles said he had to dismiss the civil complaint because Trump, who has adamantly denied sending the letter to his then-friend Epstein in 2003, had “not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice.” Plaintiffs who are public figures like Trump must show that a defendant had actual malice when they made allegedly defamatory statements, according to legal precedent. Gayles said Trump’s complaint “falls short of …

Melania Trump attacks Jeffrey Epstein claims

Melania Trump attacks Jeffrey Epstein claims

Published by Sam Flores

First lady Melania Trump speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, April 9, 2026. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images First lady Melania Trump on Thursday blasted what she described as an array of false claims about her and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I am not Epstein’s victim,” Melania Trump told reporters in a statement at the White House that ended without her taking questions. “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.” “I have never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims,” she said of the late sex offender, who was previously a friend of President Donald Trump’s. “I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant.” “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” Melania Trump said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather, I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.” The first lady ended her statement by calling on …

Howard Lutnick set for House Oversight interview

Howard Lutnick set for House Oversight interview

Published by Sam Flores

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears at the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing to examine a review of broadband deployment funding at the Department of Commerce, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 10, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is scheduled to appear May 6 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for an interview about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC on Monday. “It’s a voluntary transcribed interview,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the appearance hasn’t yet been announced. Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said March 3 that Lutnick had agreed to the interview about the crimes of Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, but did not announce what day that would happen. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Lutnick’s scheduled appearance. Lutnick, during testimony on Feb. 10 to the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he and his family had lunch with Epstein in …

Epstein victims get .5M from Bank of America settlement

Epstein victims get $72.5M from Bank of America settlement

Published by Sam Flores

A Bank of America branch in New York, US, on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Bank of America has agreed to pay victims of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein $72.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the bank facilitated his sex trafficking operation, a New York federal court filing showed Friday evening. The settlement, in which BoA did not admit wrongdoing, is the fourth settlement by a major bank of legal claims by Epstein victims or a government entity alleging they effectively abetted his trafficking while he was a customer. The settlement with BoA must be approved by U.S. District Court in Manhattan Judge Jed Rakoff; such approval is typically granted. The settlement would pay “all women who were sexually abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, or by any person who is connected to or otherwise associated with Jeffrey Epstein or any Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking venture, between June 30, 2008 and July 6, 2019, inclusive,” according to the filing. Lawyers in the case are “aware that …