U.S. charges 10 Mexican officials, including Sinaloa governor, with drug trafficking

April 29, 2026 / 7:51 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The governor of Sinaloa and nine other current and former Mexican officials were charged with drug trafficking and weapons offenses in a U.S. indictment unsealed Wednesday in New York, accused of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the United States.

Some officials were members of Mexico’s progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration. Some of those politicians called the indictment a political attack on their party.

U.S. federal officials announced the charges in a news release. None of the defendants were in custody, but Mexico’s government said shortly afterward that it had received multiple extradition requests from the U.S. without identifying those requested. It did not say how it would respond.

The 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court are current and former government or law enforcement officials in Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, who has been governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state since November 2021.

Charges against Moya included narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, he could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.

Sinaloa state Gov. Ruben Rocha waves as he takes part in an annual earthquake drill in Culiacan, Mexico, Sept. 19, 2024. Eduardo Verdugo / AP

In a statement posted to social media, Rocha, the highest-profile official charged, said he “categorically and absolutely” rejects the charges from U.S. officials, saying the accusations were an “attack.”

“It is part of a perverse strategy to violate the constitutional order, specifically on national sovereignty, ” he wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “We will show them that this slander doesn’t have any sort of foundation.”

Rocha was a staunch ally of Sheinbaum’s mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The governor enthusiastically backed the ex-president’s “Hugs, Not Bullets” policy, which involved avoiding direct confrontation with powerful drug cartels. López Obrador built a political platform by railing against endemic corruption plaguing Mexican politics.

Some of those named, according to the indictment, have themselves participated in the Sinaloa Cartel’s campaign of violence and retribution.

The indictment alleged that they were closely aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos,” which is run by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the ex-cartel leader now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

Authorities said the defendants played critical roles in helping the cartel ship fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. The Sinaloa Cartel is among eight Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement that “the defendants allegedly used positions of trust to protect cartel operations, enabling a pipeline of deadly drugs into our country.”

The indictment of Rocha, who was born in the same town as “El Chapo,” was particularly notable because the governor was embroiled in a scandal in 2023 involving the Sinaloa Cartel. His name was published in a letter written by a then-Sinaloa Cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction of the cartel and handed off to law enforcement in the U.S. In the letter, the capo said that when he was kidnapped he believed he was on his way to meet with Rocha.

In the years since, the cartels two warring factions have ravaged the northern Mexican state in their struggle for territorial control.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a statement that “while we cannot comment on the individual facts of these indictments, and the legal process will need to play out, one thing is certain: corruption that enables organized crime and harms both our countries will be investigated and prosecuted wherever U.S. jurisdiction applies.”

Among those indicted, at least three officials –- Rocha the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital, and Enrique Cazarez, a senator -– were affiliated with Sheinbaum’s party, Morena. A number of other officials held positions unaffiliated with Mexican parties.

It’s not the first time the U.S. has brought drug trafficking charges against ranking Mexican officials. In 2023, Genaro García Luna — a former Mexican public security secretary under former President Felipe Calderón — was convicted by a U.S. court and sentenced to 38 years in prison after he was accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. He denied the allegations and is appealing his conviction.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday comes after Johnson last week said that the U.S. administration would launch an anti-corruption campaign targeting Mexican officials he said were linked to organized crime.

“Corruption not only hinders progress, it distorts it. It increases costs, weakens competition, and erodes the trust upon which markets depend. It is not a problem without victims,” Johnson said.

Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying her government has not seen “any evidence” of the charges of corruption.

“Any investigation in the United States against any person in Mexico must have evidence reviewed by the (Mexican) Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum’s government has already detained several local officials across Mexico in its ongoing crackdown against the cartels, fueled by pressure by the Trump administration.

What the Supreme Court just did

With the Voting Rights Act

April 29, 2026 at 4:09 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

[image_4]

Conservatives on the Supreme Court changed a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act. (Shedrick Pelt for The Washington Post)

[image_5]

Analysis by Amber Phillips

The Supreme Court on Wednesday limited a major piece of civil rights legislation that for decades has allowed legislative districts to be drawn in a way to boost minority voters’ representation.

Now, Republican lawmakers in the South can draw maps to break up Black and other minority voters, diluting their voting power and limiting minority representation in Congress and state legislatures. Some Southern Black Democrats could lose their seats in Congress and legislatures as soon as November.

美联储周三宣布将联邦基金利率目标区间维持在3.5%至3.75%之间不变。利率决议公布后，美股三大指数短线走低，现货黄金微幅下挫，美元指数短线走高10点。 （彭博社）

美国联邦储备局周三宣布，将联邦基金利率目标区间维持在3.5%至3.75%之间不变。这一决定符合市场预期，为今年连续第三次维持利率不变。

不过，围绕星期三（4月29日）发布的政策声明，美联储负责制定货币政策的核心决策机构——联邦公开市场委员会却出现了自1992年以来最严重的分歧：委员会12人中，八票赞成，四票反对。

一名投反对票的成员主张降息25个基点，另有三人支持维持利率不变，但不支持在声明中体现放松货币政策的倾向。

美联储周三在声明中指出，近期指标显示经济活动正稳步扩张，新增就业大体上依然处于低位，失业率近几个月变化很小。通胀居高不下，部分原因是近期全球能源价格上涨。

美联储说，中东局势的变化给经济前景带来高度不确定性。美联储重申将致力于实现最大程度就业和2%通胀目标。

延伸阅读

鲍威尔：卸任主席后将留任美联储理事
美联储主席鲍威尔“告别秀” 料按兵不动

在考虑进一步调整利率目标区间的幅度和时间方面，美联储将仔细评估新的数据、不断变化的经济前景以及风险的总体情况。

利率决议公布后，美股三大指数短线走低，现货黄金微幅下挫，美元指数短线走高10点。

By Reuters

April 29, 2026 6:21 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Artemis II astronauts, NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA Pilot Victor Glover, NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 29, 2026…. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabRead more

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – U.S. ​President Donald ‌Trump said ​on ​Wednesday that his ⁠administration ​will ​be releasing as much ​information ​as possible on ‌UFOs ⁠in the near ​future.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

Reporting ​by ⁠Trevor Hunnicutt, ​Writing ​by ⁠Jasper Ward ⁠in ​Washington; ​Editing by ​Christian Martinez

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Robot exploring France’s deepest shipwreck finds cannons and ceramics that sank 5 centuries ago

April 29, 2026 / 2:39 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

Deep below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea off the French coast, the pincer of a remotely guided underwater robot delicately closes around a centuries-old jug lying near a 16th-century shipwreck.

“You have to be extremely precise so as not to damage the site, so as not to stir up sediment,” says navy officer Sebastien, who cannot give his second name for security reasons.

A two-hour journey from the French Riviera, Sebastien is overseeing the first of several archaeological missions on the deepest shipwreck in French territorial waters.

A routine army survey of the seabed uncovered the 16th-century merchant ship by chance last year in waters off the coast of Ramatuelle, close to Saint-Tropez.

Pilots specializing in underwater robots from the French Navy, along with researchers, watch live feeds on screens showing the “ROV C 4000,” a remotely operated vehicle, during an archaeological mission on the wreck of the CAMARA 4 in southeastern France, April 7, 2026. Thibaud MORITZ /AFP via Getty Images

Archaeologists believe the ship was sailing from northern Italy loaded with ceramics and metal bars before it sank.

Now the French navy and the culture ministry’s underwater archaeology department are back to inspect the surviving artifacts lost more than 1.5 miles below sea level.

Cannons and piles of jugs

The navy is keeping secret the location of the wreckage site, which they have dubbed “Camarat 4” — even if most people would unlikely have the means to reach a site so deep.

The sun has barely risen when the mission’s navy tugboat arrives on site, carrying an underwater robot and two large containers acting as makeshift offices for marine archaeologists.

Its crew lower the robot — which is equipped with cameras as well as pincers — into the water.

A navy officer guides the robot down, linked to the ship through a long cable, as experts monitor its slow descent on screens.

An hour later, the device designed to plunge as deep as 4,000 meters is gliding over piles of round pitchers on the sea floor.

Slowly, through its cameras, it reveals the wreck to the team sitting on deck.

It captures footage of a cannon, as well as hundreds of pitchers and plates, decorated with floral motifs, crosses and fish.

Archaeologists say they discovered by chance what they say are the remains of a 16th-century merchant ship more than 1.5 miles underwater off southern France. National Navy via France’s Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research

The robot shoots eight pictures per second for three hours, grabbing more than 86,000 images that will then be used to create a 3D model of the site.

Archaeologist Franca Cibecchini is delighted the water is so clear.

“The visibility is excellent. You almost can’t tell it’s so deep,” she says.

“It is most likely a merchant ship carrying glazed pottery from Liguria,” a region in the northwest of Italy, Cibecchini adds.

She says it could have been loaded on to the ship in the ports of Genoa or nearby Savona.

Experts previously identified two cauldrons, an anchor and six cannons at the shipwreck.

Modern waste, such as a soda can or an empty yogurt container, were spotted too. One image released by officials appeared to show an aluminum can next to an anchor.

Archaeologists say they discovered by chance what they say are the remains of a 16th-century merchant ship more than 1.5 miles underwater off southern France. National Navy via France’s Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research

“One of the deepest objects ever recovered”

Marine Sadania, the lead archaeologist on the underwater dig, says findings will be key to understanding trade routes at the time the ship sank.

“We don’t have very detailed texts about merchant ships in the 16th century, so this is a valuable source of information on maritime history,” she says.

The experts hold their breath as the robot lowers a pitcher into a case as gently as possible, so as not to break it.

A third of all ceramics extracted from sea digs end up breaking, Sadania says.

In total, the team hauls up several jugs and plates.

Back on land, in a laboratory in the southern port city of Marseille, Sadania runs water over one of the jugs.

Dark blue lines run across its rounded side, creating rectangles, some of which are colored in with turquoise blue or decorated with saffron-yellow symbols.

“It’s one of the deepest objects ever recovered from a wreck in France,” she says.

This photograph shows a view of a ceramic jug, recovered from the wreck of the CAMARAT 4, during its analysis at the DRASSM laboratory in Marseille on April 16, 2026. Thibaud MORITZ /AFP via Getty Images

Before this discovery, the deepest French authorities had found a sunken vessel was 1.4 miles under sea level off the southern city of Toulon in 2019. The wreckage belonged to La Minerve, a French submarine that plunged to its demise in 1968 with 52 navy crew on board, only four minutes after the start of a routine assignment.

On Tuesday, officials revealed that another 16th-century shipwreck was discovered by a naval vessel during a military exercise off the coast of Sweden.

Takeaways: Supreme Court signals it will side with Trump on Haitian and Syrian migrants

2026-04-29T16:41:40.815Z / CNN

By John Fritze and Devan Cole

Updated 1 hr 3 min ago

Updated Apr 29, 2026, 3:16 PM ET

PUBLISHED Apr 29, 2026, 12:41 PM ET

A person stands with a placard as immigrants’ rights activists and demonstrators attend a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2026.

Nathan Howard/Reuters

The Supreme Court indicated Wednesday it will back President Donald Trump’s push to end temporary deportation protections for potentially millions of foreign nationals who hail from countries enduring war and natural disasters.

In one of the most significant immigration appeals to reach the high court during Trump’s second term, the six-justice conservative majority signaled that it believes federal courts might not even have the power to review legal challenges when an administration turns Temporary Protected Status designations on and off.

Related live story The US Supreme Court is seen on April 13, 2026. Mariam Zuhaib/AP Supreme Court limits reach of the Voting Rights Act and hears arguments over temporary protected status

If that is true, it would have profound implications beyond the Haitian and Syrian nationals who challenged Trump’s decision to end TPS for their countries and could effectively bar suits against other decisions.

More than 1 million immigrants are permitted to live and work in the United States under the program.

Here are five takeaways from oral arguments:

Conservatives signal courts have no role

Several of the conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, focused on the idea that federal courts have no power to review the legality of TPS decisions. That’s because Congress included a provision in the TPS law that makes clear that an administration’s “determinations” are not reviewable.

“I really don’t understand how you can prevail,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito said, if the court interprets that provision as it has in past decisions.

Ahilan Arulanantham, the attorney arguing on behalf of Syrian TPS beneficiaries, argued that while a final decision isn’t reviewable, the process that officials used to get there can be challenged

But Justice Amy Coney Barrett, another conservative, seemed to doubt that.

“Why would Congress permit review of the procedural aspect when really what everybody cares about is the substance?” she asked.

The court’s focus on procedure, while technical, is also telling. Because the justices were so dialed in on whether the court could even review the case, they spent far less time talking about whether the Trump administration had violated the law or the Constitution in how it made its decisions.

Related article Viles Dorsainvil, Executive Director of the Haitian Support Center, and Associate Pastor Brandon Peterson of Greater Grace Temple in Springfield, Ohio, listen to a prayer outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2026. Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images Will Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric matter at the Supreme Court? 7 min read

Trump’s comments matter – but only to the liberals

Looming large over Trump’s revocation of TPS for Haiti are a history of offensive comments he has made about the island country and its people who have found a home in the US.

Those comments and similar ones from former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the official who formally revoked TPS for Haitians last year, factored heavily into a federal judge’s decision to rule that the policy change was motivated at least in part by racial animus. That is important because if the decision to end TPS was made based on race, it would violate the equal protection clause.

The liberal justices zeroed in on that point Wednesday as they questioned whether the administration’s decision last year was unconstitutionally discriminatory.

“We have a president say at one point that Haiti is a ‘filthy,’ ‘dirty’ and ‘disgusting’ ‘shithole country,’” Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s senior liberal, said at one point to Solicitor General D. John Sauer. “And where he complained that the United States takes people from such countries instead of people from Norway, Sweden or Denmark.”

“He declared illegal immigrants, which he associated with TPS, as ‘poisoning the blood’ of America,” Sotomayor said of Trump, adding: “I don’t see how that one statement” doesn’t show a “discriminatory purpose may have played a part in this decision.”

Sauer responded that the comments from Trump and Noem don’t mention race specifically.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also pressed Sauer to explain how the court was simply supposed to look past Trump’s comments when the lower court that considerd the TPS move did not.

“The statements about Haiti and eating pets and the names that were called with respect to these immigrants – even though they are lawfully in the United States – those are pretty recent,” she said, referring to Trump’s claims during the 2024 election that Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating dogs. “What do you say about those kinds of things?”

Sauer said the remarks were “made in different contexts that are remote in time” and are therefore “un-illuminating” for this case.

The court’s conservatives, however, largely avoided the president’s comments.

Kavanaugh focuses on present day Syria

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a member of the court’s conservative wing appointed by Trump, was one of the only justices who had questions about the administration’s actual decisions.

But those questions indicated Kavanaugh, who is often a key vote in high-profile cases, agreed with the administration’s decision.

The Obama administration granted TPS for certain Syrians in 2012 following the crackdown on protesters by former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. That designation was repeatedly extended amid a civil war that erupted there. But Trump officials have noted that the Assad regime fell in 2024, and the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would end the TPS designation last November.

“It’s not the Assad regime anymore though,” Kavanaugh told an attorney representing the Syrian immigrants. “After 53 years of complete oppression and brutal treatment, it’s gone.”

Picking up on a line from the administration’s brief, Kavanaugh pressed Arulanantham on how many Syrians had returned to the country on their own.

“So do you agree the Assad regime change is a significant change in the history of that country and the Middle East more broadly?” he asked.

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” Arulanantham responded.

But, Arulanantham said, he didn’t need to get into a debate about whether Syria today is safe or not because, he said, the point is the administration did not conduct an adequate review.

Kagan: ‘I mean, really?’

One of the central questions in the cases is whether the Department of Homeland Security sufficiently consulted with the State Department about conditions on the ground in the two countries before it moved ahead with terminating the TPS designations. That consultation is required by federal law, but the attorneys representing the TPS recipients said the Trump administration gave that process short shrift.

In both cases, a DHS lawyer employee emailed a State Department official about the designations, but the communications they received in return simply stated that State has no foreign policy concerns over a termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria.

Lower courts found that consultation to be far short of what federal law requires DHS to do. But Sauer told the justices that such consultation is highly deferential, and that it didn’t matter what other government agencies told DHS as part of the termination process so long as some communication occurred.

That prompted a series of increasingly incredulous hypothetical questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan.

What if the DHS secretary asked the State Department for an assessment of the conditions in Syria but never received a response, she asked. What if, instead of responding with information about conditions on the ground, the State Department instead responded with thoughts on a recent baseball game?

“If she sought input from State, she has consulted,” Sauer responded flatly, adding that would full under the “plain meaning” of the word “consulting.”

“I mean, really?” Kagan shot back. “The plain meaning of the word ‘consultation’ seems to be, like, you consult with somebody on a topic.”

Sauer held firm. Even if the State Department was completely unresponsive, he said, the Homeland Security secretary had done all that was required under the law.

“If she sought input from State,” he said, “she has consulted.”

TPS for other countries at stake

The court’s decision, which is expected before the end of June, could affect more than 1 million immigrants in the United States, even though the case itself is focused on some 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.

When former President Joe Biden left office, the US had provided — or extended — TPS protections for people from 17 countries.Since Trump returned to office last year, his administration has ended — or attempted to end — TPS designations for all 13 countries that have come up for revie.

The administration has also moved to end TPS designations for South Sudan, Syria and Ethiopia, among others. Many of those decisions are still being reviewed by federal courts and those cases will heavily influenced by what the Supreme Court majority concludes.

The Supreme Court reviewed one of those cases last year on its emergency docket. In that case, the justices twice allowed Trump to strip temporary deportation protections from some 300,000 Venezuelans.

The court did not explain its reasoning.

Jackson wrote an dissent in one of those decisions accusing the administration of attempting to “disrupt as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible.”

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Tami Luhby contributed to this report.

Powell says he won’t be a shadow chair, would support Warsh where possible

2026-04-29 7:18 PM UTC / Reuters

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U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that ​he will return to being a ‌Fed governor and will try to support the central bank’s prospective next chair, Kevin ​Warsh, and not try to ​act as a “shadow chair” who attempts to ⁠wield outsized influence over monetary ​policy.

“That’s just something I would never do, ​you know, the shadow chair thing,” Powell told a news conference, where he said he ​would remain on the board for ​an unspecified period after his chair term ends ‌in ⁠May, keeping a “low profile”.

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He said that during his six years as a governor before becoming chair, he understands the ​role and ​the ⁠difficulty that the chair has in bringing the board to ​consensus.

“I don’t want to add ​to ⁠that unnecessarily. And that means trying support the direction the chair wants to ⁠go, ​if you can,” Powell ​said. “If you can’t, you can’t. That’s the way ​it’s always worked there.”

Reporting by David Lawder

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Former FBI agent says Comey charges hinge on intent evidence and jury interpretation

April 29, 2026 3:37pm EDT / Fox News

By Greg Wehner

Chad Mizelle, former DOJ chief of staff, joined ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss why James Comey was indicted again and the latest on charges targeting Dr. Fauci’s advisor.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Nicole Parker, a former FBI special agent, Fox News contributor and author of “The Two FBIs,” said the case against former FBI Director James Comey could be difficult to prove, though “certainly possible” for prosecutors to secure a conviction.

Federal authorities have charged Comey in connection with a social media post they say threatened President Donald Trump.

Parker told Fox News Digital that cases involving alleged threats are often complex, particularly when they rely on interpretation rather than explicit language, and depend heavily on the specific facts and evidence gathered by investigators.

“These cases may be difficult to charge,” Parker said. “I have charged them before in the past, and it is certainly possible to come up with guilty verdicts. No one is above the law, and guilty verdicts do come down the pipeline.”

GREGG JARRETT:HOW OBAMA AND CRONIES CREATED TRUMP-RUSSIA HOAX, AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

James Comey posted a photo on Instagram showing him standing on a beach.(Fox News)

Comey was indicted Tuesday on two felony counts related to a May 2025 Instagram post showing seashells arranged to form “86 47,” which prosecutors argue could be interpreted as a threat against Trump, the 47th president.

Comey, who self-surrendered and appeared in federal court Wednesday, has denied wrongdoing and previously described the image as a “cool shell formation.”

Parker said that in threat investigations, agents typically gather a wide range of evidence before presenting a case to prosecutors, who then determine whether charges are warranted. She added that cases do not always hinge on a single piece of evidence, and that prosecutors may rely on a broader body of information when attempting to establish intent.

The case against Comey is expected to hinge in part on whether prosecutors can demonstrate intent behind the social media post, an issue that has already drawn scrutiny from legal analysts.

DEMOCRATS’ NEW BOOGEYMAN IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF DONALD TRUMP

Former FBI director James Comey speaks before lawmakers.(Cheriss May/Getty Images, File)

Parker also noted that where a case is tried can play a significant role in how it unfolds, particularly when it comes to how juries interpret evidence.

She added that venue can influence how a case is received, especially in a highly polarized environment, making it an important factor in how cases are ultimately decided.

“In a perfect country, the prosecution should be able to present evidence to any jury nationwide and receive a verdict based strictly on the evidence,” she said. “More than ever before, venue does matter because in this current state of polarization in our nation – it is not just what evidence is presented but where the evidence is presented.”

SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM: COMEY’S FBI INVESTIGATED ME AND 8 COLLEAGUES IN ANTI-TRUMP CRUSADE

Former FBI Director James Comey appears in a courtroom sketch during his arraignment in Virginia, Oct. 8, 2025.(Federal Court, sketch artist Dana Verkouteren)

The case is being brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, a venue that could factor into how the evidence is evaluated by a jury.

Parker, who worked under Comey during her time at the FBI, said she believes his history with Trump provides important context surrounding the case.

“Many from the bureau believe Comey has a bruised ego and has never gotten over the fact that he was fired in May 2017 by President Donald Trump while on a trip to the Los Angeles Field Office,” Parker said. “Director Comey was perceived by many as arrogant and untouchable.”

GREGG JARRETT: SHOULD PROSECUTORS BE PROSECUTED FOR THEIR LAWFARE CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRUMP?

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee.(Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images, File)

She added that, in her view, the social media post at the center of the case crossed a line, particularly given Comey’s former role leading the FBI.

“Around the same time frame of Comey’s ‘86 47’ seashell Instagram post, he posted an announcement on X regarding his latest mystery novel that was coming out. This would have been a ridiculous post if he was simply trying to drum up attention for his book,” Parker said. “A former FBI director should know better than this.”

“He claims innocence regarding these allegations in the indictment, but it seems that Comey never knew when to stop,” she added.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Parker said questions surrounding intent and interpretation are common in threat-related cases and are ultimately decided in court based on the totality of the evidence.

As the case moves forward, Comey is expected to contest the charges, setting up a legal battle that could test how courts interpret statements made on social media and where the line is drawn between protected speech and criminal threats.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394156927112

From a brooch to the queen’s iPod: A history of gifts between the U.S. and U.K.

2026-04-29T13:04:00-0400 / CBS News

By Mark Osborne

Updated on: April 29, 2026 / 1:06 PM EDT / CBS News

The U.S. might have been born out of rebellion against a British monarch, but the two countries now also have a long history of diplomatic relations. And what’s a friendship without gift-giving?

Presidents and monarches have been exchanging gifts on diplomatic trips for nearly two centuries. Some gifts have been infamous — such as George W. Bush gifting Queen Elizabeth II a golf cart-size electric vehicle in 2008 — while others have hit just the right note — such as King Charles’ gift on Tuesday to President Trump of a bell from the British submarine HMS Trump.

The most famous — and lasting — gift from the U.K. to a U.S. president was the Resolute Desk. The desk, which has been a centerpiece of the White House since 1880, was gifted from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. The desk was made from the wood of the HMS Resolute, a British ship that became stuck in ice and abandoned before being discovered by an American whaling ship in 1855. It was refurbished and given back to England, and the Resolute Desk was crafted after the ship was decommissioned in 1879.

A plaque on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office at the White House. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images

The Resolute Desk has been used by every president since Hayes except Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. (It had been loaned to an exhibition until Jimmy Carter requested it for his Oval Office in 1977.)

President Barack Obama signs bills into law on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office at the White House, Nov. 27, 2013. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Obamas

When the Obamas made a visit to see Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in May 2011, President Obama received a collection of presidential letters to and from Queen Victoria, the queen’s great-great-grandmother. Among the letters was one from John Quincy Adams to then-Princess Victoria in 1834. There was also a letter from Victoria to Mary Todd Lincoln following the assassination of her husband Abraham Lincoln.

President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II chat during a State Banquet ay Buckingham Palace on May 24, 2011, in London. rota/Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Two years earlier, President Obama made headlines when he gifted the queen an iPod. At the 2011 visit, the Obamas gave the queen a leather-bound album with rare memorabilia and photographs from her parents’ King George VI and Queen Elizabeth’s 1939 visit to the United States.

The Trumps

Mr. Trump is a well-known admirer of the British royal family. He made his first official visit to the U.K. as president in July 2018. On that trip, the president gifted Queen Elizabeth with a pewter horse — one of many equestrian-related gifts the U.S. presented to Elizabeth and Prince Philip over the years.

Mr. Trump visited the royal family three times during his first term, and has already visited once in his second term.

President Trump and Britain’s King Charles III smile beside the original bell from the HMS Trump, a World War II-era submarine inscribed “Trump 1944,” a gift from the king, during a state dinner at the White House on April 28, 2026. Henry Nicholls /AFP via Getty Images

King Charles surprised Mr. Trump on Tuesday with the gift of a bell from the HMS Trump, a T-class submarine launched in 1944. The name Trump doesn’t actually refer to a person’s name but the word “trump.” All 53 T-class submarines, built leading up to and after World War II, received names beginning with T — everything from Tuna and Tempest to Tally-Ho and Tiptoe.

The bell from HMS Trump, gifted by King Charles III to President Trump, at the state dinner at the White House on April 28, 2026. Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images

The HMS Trump had a good term of service for the U.K., surviving the war and eventually being scrapped in 1971.

Queen Camilla had a surprise of her own when she arrived in the U.S. for this week’s visit. She was seen wearing a brooch with the Union Jack and Stars and Stripes flags presented to Queen Elizabeth on her first visit to the United States in 1957.

Queen Camilla wore a brooch with the U.S. and U.K. flags as she landed in the U.S. for a visit on April 27, 2026. It had been a gift to Queen Elizabeth. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Justice Department seeks to roll back gun control measures days after Trump assassination attempt

2026-04-29T19:24:44.324Z / CNN

By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz

36 min ago
PUBLISHED Apr 29, 2026, 3:24 PM ET

People look at handguns during The Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly, Virginia, in October 2015.

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images/File

Days after a gunman charged security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in what investigators say was an attempt to kill President Donald Trump with legally owned firearms, his Justice Department is seeking to further roll back gun control measures.

“We’re repealing rules that went beyond what the law allows,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday at a press conference. “We are cutting unnecessary red tape, and we are replacing confusion with clear, straightforward language so that everyday Americans don’t need a law degree just to understand their rights.”

The administration is proposing 34 new rules — mark the largest amount the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has issued “in the last 15 years combined,” Blanche said, adding that “nothing we are doing today weakens law enforcement.”

According to Blanche and the newly confirmed ATF Director Robert Cekada, the new rules will help gun sellers more easily abide by the law, including by adopting a more narrow definition of who must be a licensed seller.

Cekada also said the ATF would formally rescind a 2023 rule that restricted pistol braces. That rule was struck down in federal court.

Gun industry leaders stood behind Blanche as he spoke.

The administration has long been looking for ways to review current gun control laws.

Weeks after entering his second term, Trump signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to review any regulations or “actions by the Biden Administration regarding firearms” and “to eliminate all infringements on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”

In the executive order, Trump alleged the Biden administration went after people who sell firearms as part of their livelihood, known as federal firearms licensees, which Trump said “led to a nearly six-fold increase in enforcement actions against” those sellers.

President Joe Biden’s “zero-tolerance” policy for FFLs was meant to revoke licenses from sellers who failed to conduct background checks, sold firearms to an unlawful buyer, and other violations of the law.

“Firearms manufacturers have been de-banked or denied services simply because they make guns — which allow Americans to exercise a constitutional right,” Trump’s executive order from February last year said.

On Saturday, Trump himself was a target of a gunman, investigators say.

Cole Tomas Allen was arrested after rushing through security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, armed with guns. He allegedly sent a note to his family sharing anti-Trump sentiment around the time of the attack.

“Let me reiterate that the Second Amendment will never be treated as a second-class right in the Trump administration,” Blanche said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.