All posts tagged: indictment

What Is the Trump Administration Really Trying To Do With The Latest Comey Indictment?

What Is the Trump Administration Really Trying To Do With The Latest Comey Indictment?

Published by Jenni Sidey

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina handed down a two-count indictment against the former FBI director James Comey, charging him with threatening the life of President Donald Trump and transmitting that threat across state lines. The basis for the charges: an Instagram post from May 2025 in which Comey shared a photo captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” The shells on the sand spelled out “86 47.” Each count carries a maximum of ten years in federal prison. Comey deleted the post the same day it went up and issued an immediate clarification on social media. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote. “It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down.” He later told interviewers that he and his wife had simply spotted the formation during a stroll along a North Carolina beach and read it as a quirky, possibly restaurant-themed joke. Despite the dubious explanation, from the moment the post …

Fidelity, Vanguard Halt Donations To SPLC After Federal Indictment

Fidelity, Vanguard Halt Donations To SPLC After Federal Indictment

Published by Jenni Sidey

Fidelity and Vanguard have stopped processing donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center through their donor-advised fund platforms, citing the organization’s recent federal indictment on fraud charges. The moves came April 29, eight days after a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the SPLC on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors allege that between 2014 and 2023 the group secretly funneled more than $3 million in donor funds to individuals affiliated with extremist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America, while misleading donors about the use of the money. Fidelity Charitable, which oversees more than 350,000 donor-advised accounts, notified customers that the SPLC is no longer an eligible grant recipient, the NY Times reports. “Fidelity Charitable is aware of an ongoing governmental investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center,” the company wrote in an email to a donor. “Consistent with our grant-making standards and practices, the organization is not an eligible grant recipient during the ongoing investigation.” Vanguard Charitable …

Comey indictment reveals a desperate DOJ — and president

Comey indictment reveals a desperate DOJ — and president

Published by Sam Flores

To serve in Donald Trump’s Cabinet is to perform for an audience of one, and in the weeks since she was fired by the president, it’s become clear why Pam Bondi’s run as attorney general was a failure: She was unable to convict any of the president’s enemies. Todd Blanche, her deputy and temporary — at least for now — replacement, was taking notes. Now he is taking action. The Justice Department has filed motions to allow Trump to build his Big Beautiful Ballroom, indicted Anthony Fauci’s former deputy over allegedly conspiring to conceal documents related to the Covid-19 pandemic and moved quickly on superfluous investigations involving the Russia probe that was opened during Barack Obama’s administration. But this week the department really nailed it. Standing alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, who may himself soon be on the way out, Blanche announced that James Comey, Patel’s predecessor and the president’s longtime foe, was being indicted for threatening Trump’s life. This is exactly the kind of charge the president wanted to see — one so personal and …

Restaurant workers say the term at the center of James Comey’s indictment is ‘everyday lingo’

Restaurant workers say the term at the center of James Comey’s indictment is ‘everyday lingo’

Published by Sam Flores

Federal prosecutors say former FBI Director James Comey’s use of the term “86” on Instagram was a threat “to do harm” to President Donald Trump — but some food service workers say the term is “everyday lingo” to them. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. “It’s probably the most overused word in hospitality,” said Mike Reyes, 45, who has worked in the hospitality industry for years, currently as an operational excellence consultant at FLIK Hospitality Group. “Any time you’re out of anything, it’s 86-ed” — meaning it’s unavailable and needs to be replenished or replaced — he said, adding that he first heard the term when he started his first restaurant job at age 14. It’s now also the centerpiece of a federal indictment against Comey in North Carolina. He has been charged with two counts of threatening the president’s life by posting a picture of seashells on the beach last year that had been arranged to read “86 47.” The indictment said “a reasonable recipient …

Read the Indictment of Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya of Mexico and Others

Read the Indictment of Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya of Mexico and Others

Published by Sam Flores

1 were killed. Specifically, under MILLAN’s command, municipal officers, in a patrol car, stopped the CS and CS Relative-1, kidnapped them, and turned them over to Cartel sicarios, who tortured and then killed those and other victims. (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1201(c) and 3238.) FORFEITURE ALLEGATIONS 49. As a result of committing the controlled substance offense charged in Count One of this Indictment, RUBEN ROCHA MOYA, ENRIQUE INZUNZA CAZAREZ, ENRIQUE DIAZ VEGA, DAMASO CASTRO ZAAVEDRA, MARCO ANTONIO ALMANZA AVILES, ALBERTO JORGE CONTRERAS NUNEZ, a/k/a “Cholo,” GERARDO MERIDA SANCHEZ, JOSE ANTONIO DIONISIO HIPOLITO, a/k/a “Tornado,” JUAN DE DIOS GAMEZ MENDIVIL, and JUAN VALENZUELA MILLAN, a/k/a “Juanito,” the defendants, shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Sections 853 and 970, any and all property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds the defendants obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offense, and any and all property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, and to facilitate …

James Comey faces Trump threat seashells indictment

James Comey faces Trump threat seashells indictment

Published by Sam Flores

FILE PHOTO: Former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Senate Hart building on Capitol Hill, on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Cheriss May | Nurphoto | Getty Images Former FBI Director James Comey appeared in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court on Wednesday, a day after a two-count indictment charged him with threatening to kill President Donald Trump last May by posting on Instagram a photo of seashells arranged to form the message “86 47” on a North Carolina beach. Comey’s lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, told Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick that he intends to file a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of vindictive prosecution. Fitzgerald had filed such a motion when Comey was indicted in another federal criminal case last fall, which was later tossed out on other grounds. Fitzgerald, a former top federal prosecutor, asked the judge about preserving inflammatory statements about Comey that have been made by both Trump and the Department of Justice. The judge, Fitzpatrick, pointedly referenced the prior case when he said Comey …

Number at center of Comey indictment : NPR

Number at center of Comey indictment : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A demonstrator holds up an “8647” sign at a “No Kings” protest in Louisville, Ky., in June 2025. It’s an anti-Trump slogan, with multiple interpretations. Jon Cherry/AP hide caption toggle caption Jon Cherry/AP Former FBI Director James Comey was charged this week over a year-old social media post of a seashell formation that the Justice Department alleges constituted a threat to President Trump’s life. A grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday saying that Comey “did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States” when he posted a picture of seashells in the sand on a North Carolina beach in May 2025. The seashells were arranged — it’s not clear by whom — to form the numbers “8647.” Eighty-six is a slang term widely interpreted as meaning “get rid of,” while Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president. “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” Comey said in …

DOJ gets indictment against former FBI director James Comey : NPR

DOJ gets indictment against former FBI director James Comey : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey leaves the Rayburn House Office Building after testifying on Capitol Hill Dec. 7, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Justice Department has secured a two-count indictment against former FBI Director James Comey for threatening President Trump by posting a photo on social media. This is the second time the Trump DOJ has gotten an indictment against Comey, a fierce critic and outspoken opponent of President Trump. A grand jury handed up an indictment against Comey over a photo he posted online last year of seashells on a North Carolina beach arranged to say “8647” — 86 being old slang to mean “get rid of,” and 47 seen by some as a reference to Trump, who is the 47th (and 45th) president. Comey “did knowingly and willfully make a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President of the United States, in that he publicly posted a photograph on the internet social media …

Watch live: DOJ holds press conference after second Comey indictment

Watch live: DOJ holds press conference after second Comey indictment

Published by Sam Flores

The Justice Department is holding a press conference Tuesday afternoon. The Trump administration has brought a second indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Comey was hit with two federal charges last September stemming from testimony he gave before the Senate in 2020. That hearing came as lawmakers probed investigations into President Trump’s 2016 campaign… Source link

Was The Atlantic’s Kash Patel Smear A Setup To Discredit The SPLC Indictment?

Was The Atlantic’s Kash Patel Smear A Setup To Discredit The SPLC Indictment?

Published by Jenni Sidey

On April 17, The Atlantic published an anonymously sourced hit piece against FBI Director Kash Patel – painting him as a blackout-drunk, paranoid, and erratic executive barely capable of running the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. Three days later, a federal grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center for wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  The question conservative circles are now asking is whether the hit piece was deliberately conceived and timed to discredit Patel and the SPLC investigation. Democrats pounced on The Atlantic hit piece, launching an investigation into his behavior the same day that the SPLC indictment was announced. And that was the point of the Atlantic story. See how that works. https://t.co/WRjlc4twIQ — Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) April 22, 2026 According to the Department of Justice, between 2014 and 2023, the organization secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals associated with violent extremist groups – including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, American Nazi Party, and the National Socialist Party of America.  “They use their …