Republican congressional candidate Michael Carbonara of Florida took to social media Monday to laud the Trump administration's "massive accountability" push – only to be immediately fact-checked for a blatant falsehood in his post.
“Wow: [FBI Director] Kash Patel CONFIRMS felony convictions against James Comey,” Carbonara falsely wrote, as was soon pointed out by several critics and X’s crowd-sourced fact checking service known as “community notes.” “This is MASSIVE for accountability.”
Comey, the former FBI director, has not been convicted of any crimes, and instead was indicted in April on two felony counts by Trump’s Justice Department over a photograph of seashells he posted on social media.
“Felony ‘convictions.’ And this guy is running for Congress?” wrote retired Wisconsin sports journalist Jeff Potrykus Monday in a social media post on X to his nearly 35,000 followers.
In response to Carbonara’s blatantly false claim, political commentator Alex Cole declared “MAGAs are dumb,” and Travis Akers, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer, plainly stated that Carbonara’s claim was “false.”
Carbonara’s online post – which oddly included a video of Patel from late April – was also hit with a community note flagging its inaccuracy.
“Kash Patel announced a grand jury indictment of James Comey on two felony counts, not convictions,” reads the crowd-sourced fact-checking service. “An indictment is not a conviction.”
Felony “convictions.” And this guy is running for Congress? https://t.co/RY2QtHF7aE
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) June 22, 2026