Today in Politics, Bulletin 359. 4/28/26 JAMES COMEY CHARGED! YOU'RE KIDDING!

 

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Today in Politics, Bulletin 359. 4/28/26 Ron Filipkowski Apr 28 ∙ Preview … Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted today for the second time by Trump’s mafia DOJ, this time for a photo he posted on Instagram of seashells on the beach. The previous indictment of Comey was dismissed by the court. … CNN: “Trump has long pressed for his political adversaries to face charges, including the former FBI director he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to ‘weaponize’ justice system against him. Last May, Comey posted a photo on social media of shells on a beach writing out the numbers ‘86 47,’ which critics said referred to taking out or killing Trump.” … “When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out. Trump is currently the 47th president. Comey posted the photo of the shells, writing in the caption ‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk.’” … The indictment: “On or about May 15, 2025, in the Eastern District of NC, the defendant, JAMES BRIEN COMEY JR, 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 site Instagram which depicted seashells arranged in a pattern making out ‘86 47’, which a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” … That is the actual indictment. I’m not creative enough to make up something that insane. … Dep. AG Todd Blanche announced the indictment and noted that Comey faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. … FCC Chair Brendan Carr is going after local Disney/ABC network stations in retaliation for Jimmy Kimmel’s criticisms of Trump. CNN: “As the Trump admin pressures ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel, the Trump-aligned FCC is challenging the network’s station licenses, setting up a legal battle with ABC’s parent company Disney.” … FCC order: “Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days - in other words, by May 28, 2026.” … “The order will not affect the local stations right away. It is just the start of a protracted legal process, and ABC has broad legal protections. Nevertheless, the FCC order is an extraordinary escalation by the Trump admin. While the FCC asserts that the license review is related to an ongoing probe into Disney’s diversity initiatives, it is being widely viewed as a form of govt retaliation for airing Kimmel’s show and resisting Trump’s pressure.” … Kimmel responded to Melania’s call for him to be fired for his joke about her being “an expectant widow”: “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that. But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend. And probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.” … Kimmel: “I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do. And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.” … Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: “The notion that any of us are concerned with so-called ‘criticism’ from these phony Republicans as it relates to anything that’s been said - certainly as it relates to the comment about ‘maximum warfare’ in connection with the redistricting battle Republicans launched - I stand by it. You can continue to criticize me for it. I don’t give a damn about your criticism.” … Stephen Miller’s wife Katie Miller went on Fox to blame the shooting on Gavin Newsom: “It’s no mistake this man hailed from the state of California and that of Gavin Newsom who is one of the worst offenders of this violent political rhetoric that sparks this man’s imagination.” … Newsom spokesperson: “What an absurd statement. Political violence is NEVER acceptable. PERIOD. What Cole Allen did was reprehensible and we’re grateful the President was uninjured. This finger pointing from people like Katie who haven’t just tolerated, but amplified, Trump’s dangerous rhetoric is offensive.” … Newsom: “The President has openly celebrated the deaths of his political opponents, called Democrats and immigrants “vermin,” “demonic” and “evil” “animals” who are “poisoning the blood of our country.” He regularly uses violent language, threatens to arrest and jail his political enemies - while describing the attempt to overthrow our democracy on J6 as a “beautiful thing.” The same folks cheering Trump’s threats don’t get to rewrite the narrative now.” … Katie Miller then talked about the viral photo of her being evacuated from the WHCD with Stephen grabbing her breast from behind: “What everyone sees is my husband copping a feel, but he wasn’t going to put his hands on my stomach, that’s where are baby is. He just moved his hands upward. Q - They were saying he was using you as a shield. Miller: He was behind me, protecting me, and our baby.” … A contentious hearing today in the House with Trump’s EPA administrator Lee Zeldin attempting to justify dismantling clean air and water regulatory enforcement, draconian budget cuts, and massive polluting corporations getting free reign after making huge contributions to Trump’s campaign. … NPR: “From the outset, Zeldin has pursued a deregulatory agenda at the EPA with zeal, even inviting companies to email his agency so they can be exempted from air pollution standards. Under his watch, the agency has moved to roll back drinking water standards for PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’ and weakened protections against air pollutants, such as mercury, arsenic, ethylene oxide and more.” … “EPA greenlighted pesticides and insecticides, with known health risks; proposed that a safe level of exposure of the human carcinogen, formaldehyde, exists; and elected not to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals, known as phthalates, in consumer products. It cancelled millions of dollars in research grants on the health effects of chemicals and pollutants.” … “The broad efforts to undo protections has touched ‘pretty much everything we eat, breathe, drink and use in our homes,’ says Betsy Southerland, an environmental scientist with the Environmental Protection Network, a volunteer organization of former EPA employees. … One of the main issues is companies getting an executive order from Trump exempting them from lawsuits for endangering public health. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this favorable treatment is Bayer. AOC caught Zeldin in a lie when he claimed he never met with Bayer officials to discuss the new policy before it was implemented. … She asked Zeldin if he ever met with Bayer about their legal issues on glyphosate: “No, I never did.” AOC then presented visitor logs from the EPA and emails from Zeldin’s senior advisor which showed that Zeldin met with the Bayer CEO to discussion upcoming “legal/judicial issues.” Zeldin then began stuttering and stammering and shuffling paper before responding: “My meeting was very brief.” … The email stated that Bayer was specifically seeking to discuss with Zeldin the Supreme Court case on glyphosate lawsuits, and also wanted an update on EPA’s regulatory review of the pesticide. AOC: “Do you understand the conflict of interest that is before the American people right now?” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH): “You pushed a massive spending bill, most of it going to tax cuts for the super wealthy, you’ve cut healthcare by nearly $1 trillion, and now you’re gonna cut the EPA by 50%. Would you have supported this as a member of Congress? Zeldin: I hear from Americans across the country happy to get more back in their tax return. Landsman: You don’t talk to folks. That really isn’t true. Nobody is saying ‘thank you’ for cutting their healthcare.” Landsman: “With healthcare cuts and more pollution, people are worried about their health. Do you agree that’s a concern? Zeldin: Actually, the feedback I get is that people are happy. Landsman: Where is this ‘feedback’ coming from? People run up to you saying, ‘Thank you so much for cutting the EPA, for cutting our healthcare’?” Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ): “Do you have any issue with the fact that during the 2024 campaign, Trump asked the oil and gas industry for $1 billion in exchange for supporting these rollbacks that the EPA is doing now? Zeldin: How about the Biden EPA’s conflicts of interest? Menendez: You’re a part of the Trump admin!” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): “How do we get rid of PFAS in municipal water supplies with 90% fewer dollars? Zeldin: Earmarks are a decision for you to make. Auchincloss: So wait - your EPA plan for clean water is to hope that members of Congress do it? Hope is not a strategy.” … And it is not just Democrats who are fuming at the Trump admin policies destroying the environment while endangering public health. RFK Jr’s MAHA disciples also spoke out today about what they feel is a series of betrayals after they agreed to vote for Trump after RFK Jr endorsed him: MAHA activist Kelly Ryerson on Fox: “This is an enormous political misstep - what the admin did. A real slap in the face to MAHA. This is a very important issue to MAHA. Truthfully, it might cost the midterms for the Republican Party. Host: 77% of Republicans say they are very worried about this issue.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): “On behalf of all the Mom’s and Dad’s that aren’t in office, I will NOT be bullied into supporting a ‘farm’ bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer. This is literally above party affiliation.” Alex Clark, host of Turning Point USA’s MAHA podcast: “The last conversation Charlie Kirk and I had on his show was about how problematic pesticide liability shields are and how atrocious it is for Republicans to back them. All of MAHA and conservative women are watching you fight for big ag INSTEAD of the health of American children and farmers and the ability to sue if we get harmed. You need to support Luna’s amendment for sections 10205-10207 be stripped from the Farm Bill.” … Republicans continued their push to have taxpayers pay for Trump’s ballroom, which he originally claimed in February 2025 would be paid for entirely out of his own pocket. Then he changed it to donor money. Now he wants us to pay. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says they are going introduce legislation that’s going to authorize $400 million on building the ballroom: “We pay for it by offsetting it with customs fees. The sooner we get the ballroom built, the better it is for the country.” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO): “I’m working on legislation to ensure we are getting the ballroom funded. There’s obviously a national security element to that, and it needs to be done.” Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV): “You would think this town would be tired of Trump being right all the time. This president has always had the ability to see around corners and make decisions that are best for the country or his business. We need to have that ballroom built. God bless the president for doing it.” Marge Greene: “One day in the future, parents will tell their children that it was because of Trump’s war on Iran that caused farms to fail because farmers couldn’t afford fertilizers and the cost of farming was too high. And instead of world peace Lindsey Graham pounded his fist and said ‘drop the nukes and give Trump $400 million to build the ballroom!’” Meidas reporter Pablo Manriquez to AOC: “Now Republicans are saying taxpayers are going to be on the hook for this ballroom? AOC: Hell no. They demolished the East Wing without any sort of process, which is deeply shocking. The idea that they’re going to build this palace on the taxpayer’s dime - after they said that whatever billionaire they had a sweetheart deal with was going to foot the bill - is not acceptable.” Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI): “They are always looking for new ways to kiss the ring. We all knew this was where it was headed. The grift never stops.” Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT): “We want to pay for bridges and roads. We want to keep Americans safe. What do they want to do? They want to kiss the president’s ass over and over again.” Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ): “There’s an affordability crisis out there. Nobody gives a shit about the ballroom except for the president.” … NYT: “Breaking News: Gas prices in the US have hit their highest level in 4 years. Tuesday’s jump was the biggest increase in more than a month, as negotiators deadlocked over reopening the Strait of Hormuz.” … NYT: “Trump’s approval ratings are down. Gas prices are up. Congressional Republicans are heading to the exits in record numbers. And Democratic enthusiasm is cresting. With a little more than 6 months until the midterm elections, anxious Republicans are confronting a foreboding political climate that party leaders fear could lead to a wipeout in the fall if it does not improve.” … Politico: “The House is now favored to fall into Democratic hands while control of the Senate is increasingly up for grabs as Democratic candidates up and down the ballot build substantial war chests. In private, Republican political strategists are grimly trading synonyms to describe the darkening environment: sour, ugly, bad, bleak.” … Newt Gingrich: “If the election were in May, Republicans would lose. The war, the sense of affordability and gasoline - some of that has to be cleared up in order to win. If it doesn’t change, I’ll start tearing my hair out.” This is a big one so you still have a ways to go to get through all the drama today. I never promised you a rose garden. Reminder that there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where I do a deep dive into the top stories right now. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Thank you to everyone who subscribes to help support my work and the other contributors with Meidas. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid … Ryan Grim with DropSite News: “Kid Rock flew to Fort Belvoir this morning on his private jet and took a little joy ride on 2 Apache helicopters with Pete Hegseth, according to multiple Army sources, and backed up by flight data. Apaches typically have 2 pilots, but they went up with one so the boys could each ride shotgun, I'm told. ...