FBI asked 'Sammy the Bull' if ex-Gambino mob prosecutor Comey knew meaning of '86': court filing

The former Gambino underboss spoke with an FBI agent about the term as Comey faces federal charges over his seashell post

The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as "Sammy the Bull," to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term "86" means, according to court documents.

Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey's role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al. in the 1990s, told an FBI case agent during a May 2026 phone call that Comey "had to know" what 86 meant, according to a sworn affidavit from his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald supporting Comey’s motions to dismiss the case.

Comey is facing a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump through his May 2025 "8647" seashell Instagram post.

"On May 8, 2026, the case agent had a telephone conversation with Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano, the former Gambino crime family underboss who was one of the cooperating witnesses at the United States v. John Gambino trial," the affidavit, filed last month, reads.

"During the telephone conversation to discuss the logistics of his forthcoming interview, Mr. Gravano stated his belief that Mr. Comey had to know what the term '86' meant 'as it related to killing someone,'" the court documents say.

JAMES COMEY '86 47' SEASHELL CASE PROSECUTOR SUDDENLY STEPS DOWN, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY STEPS IN

Hearing of Italo-American boxer Salvatore Gravano, nicknamed "Sammy the Bull", at the Capitol on April 1, 1993.

The U.S. Department of Justice brought two federal charges against Comey – threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce – in April for a social media post Comey made displaying a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say "8647."

BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: ‘REST ASSURED’ CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST

Prosecutors alleged the photo was a reference to killing Trump, with "86" referring to a slang term for killing and "47" referring to Trump as the 47th U.S. president.

Comey’s defense lawyer cited the FBI’s interview with Gravano to challenge the claim that Comey’s Gambino prosecution meant he understood "86" as a reference to killing. Though Gravano told agents Comey "had to know" the term’s mob meaning, he said he did not recall ever discussing it with Comey. The filing also says FBI searches of the Gambino case materials found no references to "86."

"During the recorded interview, which lasted 25 minutes, Gravano said that '86' generally means to 'get rid of' and to him, as a 'gangster,' it means 'to kill,'" the affidavit said.

SAMMY GRAVANO REVEALS THE MOMENT HE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGAINST JOHN GOTTI

Former FBI director James Comey has been indicted by the Justice Department 

Gravano added that he believed Comey's post was a call for violence, but not an admission that Comey himself would be carrying out said violence.

"While Gravano claimed that the post was a call for violence against President Trump ('let’s kill Trump'), Gravano did not claim Mr. Comey’s seashell post to be a statement threatening that Mr. Comey would personally kill President Trump," the affidavit read.

Comey has claimed that he found — and did not arrange — the seashell display and did not realize some people interpreted "86 47" as a violent message.

FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS COMEY CHARGES HINGE ON INTENT EVIDENCE AND JURY INTERPRETATION

"I don't see it the way some people are still saying it is, but again, I don't want any part of any violence. I've never been associated with violence, and so that's why I took it down," Comey told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace in May 2025, alluding to the fact that he removed the post shortly after putting it up on Instagram.

Comey said he didn't think it had any dark intentions.

Former F.B.I. Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

"I actually didn't think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, ‘What a clever way to express a political view.' The shells were the same color for each of the letters… It took a lot of work. Somebody with artistic flair did that, and I have a hard time believing it was anybody with a dark intention, and it certainly was no dark intention on my part or my spouse's part," he said

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-asked-sammy-bull-ex-gambino-mob-prosecutor-comey-knew-meaning-86-court-filing

Attorney David Clements Torches the Legal Establishment After Education Department Moves to Strip the Corrupt American Bar Association of Its Power to Accredit Law Schools: “The BAR Is One of the Most Corrupt Entities on Earth”

Photo Credit: Dan Fleuette, Author of “Rogues, Rebels, and Outlaws.” Find his work at x.com/doitfluet and doitfluet.com.

The U.S. Department of Education on Friday recommended stripping the American Bar Association of its longstanding authority to accredit nearly 200 law schools across the country.

According to a leak, a 500-page staff report concluded that the group is not sufficiently “separate and independent” from the larger ABA, operates like a cartel, and has injected its own political ideology into the process, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Assistant Secretary of Education David Barker put it bluntly: when there’s no competition, “accreditors feel free to inject their own political preferences, their own ideologies into the work that they do.”

The ABA has held a near-monopoly since 1952 over which law schools can access federal student loans and whose graduates can sit for the bar in most states.

This follows years of the ABA pushing illegal DEI mandates on law schools, requirements that forced race-based preferences and “bias, racism, and cross-cultural competency” indoctrination even after the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action.

The Trump administration has been dismantling this rot step by step, and states like Texas and Florida have already moved to sideline the ABA.

Attorney and election integrity fighter David Clements responded on X with a powerful account of how the Bar has been weaponized against patriots who dare speak the truth:

“I’ve been subjected to six investigations by my state BAR association over the past six years—for advocating against Covid-19 tyranny and rigged elections.

“Despite prevailing against my accusers, my license holds virtually no value, unless and until corrupt actors are brought to justice, and those that have been harmed are restored and publicly vindicated.

“A mere Google search invites baseless attacks and prejudice from opposing counsel and judges every time I enter into a case. As a result, all potential clients are harmed by proximity to me before I get a foot in the door.

“Each year, attorneys must take CLEs (continuing legal education courses) infused with DEI/woke ideologies, and pay substantial sums of money to practice their trade.

“The irony of funding and receiving propaganda from an entity that is weaponized against me is a bitter pill to swallow.

“The BAR is one of the most corrupt entities on Earth.”

Clements, a prosecutor and New Mexico State University professor who was fired for refusing COVID mandates, has spent years exposing election fraud and medical tyranny. The Bar subjected him to six frivolous investigations, and he beat every single one.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Clements was subjected to a sixth disciplinary investigation after visiting former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in jail.

The complaint reportedly alleged that Clements gained access to Peters under “false pretenses” before publishing a short video update about her condition.

The Gateway Pundit also reported in February 2025 that Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson banned FTC political appointees from holding leadership positions in the ABA, participating in its events, or using government resources to pay ABA membership expenses.

Ferguson accused the ABA, described by Senator Mike Lee as the “lawyer’s wing of the Democratic Party,” of abandoning neutral legal analysis in favor of left-wing political activism.

The ABA has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over DEI mandates, judicial nominations, Trump’s executive orders targeting major law firms, and the administration’s efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy.

Texas, Florida, and Alabama have already taken steps to reduce the ABA’s power over their attorney-licensing systems, with several states specifically citing the organization’s DEI requirements.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/attorney-david-clements-torches-legal-establishment-after-trump/

Yikes: Dem Nominee Angie Nixon Goes Off the Rails With Incredibly Bad, False Take on Trump

The Democrats' nominee for the Senate in Florida is state Rep. Angie Nixon. 

As we've reported, the Democrats have dug themselves a hole by choosing her, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), in a red state full of people who are very knowledgeable about the evils of socialism. 

There apparently was a kerfuffle of a heated conversation between Nixon and the state party chair, Nikki Fried. Allegedly, Fried was trying to get Nixon to distance herself from the DSA stuff, and Nixon didn't think that Fried should be trying to tell her how to run her campaign. 

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READ MORE: Democrats in Disarray: Angie Nixon and Nikki Fried in Reported Yelling Match Over FL Senate Race

Data Analyst Drops Very Bad News for Dems in Florida, Not Only in Senate Race, but for Future

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But from Nixon's interview on Meet the Press Now with Kristen Welker, it does look like Nixon is trying to distance herself from the DSA. 

She claimed the state wasn't "red," that it just hadn't been "invested in" by the Democrats. That statement is a rejection of reality.

Here she claims she isn't a socialist, but joined the DSA because she agreed with some of their positions. 

As I noted earlier, you don't have to join the DSA to support those positions. And if you are a member of the DSA, hint: you are a socialist. She's still a part of this organization, knowing they support these crazy things. This is hilarious that these DSA candidates want to try to run away from their positions once they have to be in a general election where they know they are going to lose badly if people know what they truly believe. Then it also tells you they know people don't accept those radical positions. 

Welker asked her about a variety of the DSA positions, including wanting to draft a new constitution. Again, her answer was off the rails. 

She said she didn't support that, but was for fully following the Constitution, "which is everything Donald Trump is against." Then she went over the slide. 

"We need to make sure that we are enforcing the Constitution and enforcing our laws, and not allowing someone like Donald Trump - who happens to be a 34 count adjudicated rapist - to actually circumvent those things."

Wait, what? No, Trump is not a "34 count adjudicated rapist." He's not an "ajudicated rapist" at all, much less 34 counts. Is she so bad that she conflated her talking points? Is she aware that George Stephanopoulos and ABC had to pay up big time for using such a term against Trump? This is just demonstrably, recklessly false. 

Welker seemed fixated on following up on another question and did not nail her there on how wrong that was. And Nixon even chastised Welker when she asked if being a member of the DSA was a "distraction" from her own ideas. Nixon claimed it was the media who was "distracted" by asking her about her connection. Talk about gall - yes, when you belong to a radical organization and hold radical positions, people are going to grill you about what you believe if you're running for election. 

I think the Republican incumbent, Sen. Ashley Moody, is going to crush her, and it will be well-deserved. 

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2026/08/22/angie-nixon-remarks-on-mtp-now-n2205930

It's Cartoon/Meme Time! #494d

Karoline Leavitt Announces Her Next Job, Says ‘You Guys Will Still See Me All the Time’

Karoline Leavitt is leaving her job as White House press secretary, but she will still very much remain a presence in President Donald Trump’s political orbit.

Leavitt shared her next career move with reporters outside of Air Force One on Friday evening, announcing she is set to work for MAGA Inc., a Trump Super Political Action Committee (PAC).

She is scheduled to step down from her White House position at the end of August, having said previously she wants to spend more time with her young, growing family.

Leavitt did not say what her title would be with MAGA Inc. However, she previously was the spokesperson for that organization before joining the president’s 2024 campaign.

“You guys will still see me all the time,” she told reporters.

A Trump and GOP-aligned Super PAC, Maga Inc. has reportedly accumulated more than $350 million in campaign funds ahead of November’s midterms, the Hill reported Friday.

Leavitt also noted that Friday evening’s flight would be her last official outing as press secretary. She boarded Air Force One for a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a Trump rally for Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), who is running for a full term for her late brother’s seat.

Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio have two preschool children, a son born in July of 2024 and daughter born in May of this year. Riccio is a New Hampshire real estate developer and investor with a portfolio of commercial and residential properties.

The Hill reported:

After Leavitt announced her departure, Trump said she would continue working with the White House as one of his “top advisers” and be an “influential voice within the Republican Party.” The press secretary herself said in her announcement that her “fight” against the Democratic Party would not end once she vacated the post.

The White House notably did not name an immediate replacement for Leavitt, who had returned from maternity leave in mid-July shortly before deciding to permanently leave the role. Trump commented on mounting speculation surrounding who would be her replacement, signaling that he had several options and that the choice would be difficult.

Leavitt’s replacement has yet to be named. Among those under consideration, the Hill reported, are CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings and Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

“I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this,” Trump told reporters Friday, “I have never seen so many job applications in my life.”

Leavitt, known for her thick skin and willingness to go toe to toe with veteran journalists, was the youngest White House press secretary ever to serve, taking the job at the age of 27 at the start of Trump’s second administration.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/22/karoline-leavitt-announces-her-next-job-says-you-guys-will-still-see-me-all-the-time/

Major First Amendment Victory: D.C. Circuit Overturns Verdict Against James O’Keefe, Rules Undercover Journalism Is Protected Speech

In a major First Amendment and investigative-reporting win, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has overturned a jury verdict and damages award against James O’Keefe and undercover journalist Allison Maass stemming from a Project Veritas investigation into Democracy Partners.

The panel ruled 2-1 that the First Amendment protects publishing undercover footage and that the damages improperly punished protected journalistic activity.

O’Keefe announced the decision in a video posted on his X account Friday evening, saying his faith in the future of journalism has been restored after the appellate court, including a Democrat-appointed judge, set a powerful precedent for undercover work nationwide.

WATCH:

The case stems from Project Veritas’s undercover operation in which Maass obtained an unpaid internship at Democracy Partners, the progressive consulting firm led by Robert Creamer, by misrepresenting her identity.

The videos she took exposed internal discussions and operations, leading Creamer and the firm to sue for fraudulent misrepresentation, wiretapping, and related claims.

A jury later awarded damages, including $120,000 for lost contracts, based in part on the economic harm that followed publication of the reporting.

On appeal, Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, writing for the majority and joined by Judge Harry Edwards, held that the damages award violated the First Amendment because the primary cause of the claimed losses was the protected content of the news story itself rather than any unprotected conduct.

The court held that a jury cannot impose liability that punishes publishing newsworthy information obtained through undercover methods.

O’Keefe is the founder of Project Veritas and now CEO of O’Keefe Media Group (OMG).

While the court acknowledged that certain methods of gathering information may not themselves be constitutionally shielded, it found that the jury’s award could not stand when protected speech was the dominant factor in the harm alleged.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/major-first-amendment-victory-d-c-circuit-overturns/