The Trump administration’s extradition case against millionaire left-wing donor James “Fergie” Chambers, detained in Spain since July, ran into an apparent hurdle when two witnesses called before a federal grand jury announced their intention last week to refuse to testify.
asserted
jury → detain → intention
Several observers familiar with the case said the grand jury is likely related to the extradition effort.
asserted
jury → say → effort
The refusal of the grand jury witnesses to testify takes on added importance because the U.S. is pursuing Chambers’s extradition based on a criminal complaint, not an indictment, according to his Spanish lawyers.
uncertain
U.S. → testify → lawyers
The criminal affidavit, signed by a single FBI agent, includes three charges related to his support for pro-Palestine causes.
asserted
affidavit → sign → causes
The distinction, critics of the extradition case say, highlights how the case is hung on one agent’s complaint, which remains under seal, rather than a grand jury investigation to determine if the state had sufficient evidence to indict Chambers.
asserted
state → say → Chambers
“The complaint is not only vague and weak, it’s not normal,” said Aitor Martínez, one of Chambers’s Spain-based lawyers.
asserted
Martínez → ’ → lawyers
“In 20 years of practice, I’ve never seen a U.S. extradition request based on a criminal complaint.”
asserted
I → see → complaint
Martínez pointed to a statement from a summary of the complaint contained in an international arrest order reviewed by The Intercept and directed at Spanish authorities that says, “If Chambers’ extradition to the US is granted, another charging document called an indictment will be sought from a federal grand jury.”
asserted
document → point → jury
Xavier de Janon, the executive director of the U.S.-based National Lawyers Guild and who is not working directly on the Chambers case, said, “Seeking an extradition without there being an indictment puts the cart before the horse.”
asserted
Seeking → work → horse
“If he is extradited under a criminal complaint,” said de Janon, “he can’t even fully challenge the charges, because he hasn’t been indicted.”
asserted
he → extradite → charges
The State Department referred questions to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment.
asserted
which → refer → Justice
Two of the three charges underpinning the extradition request against Chambers — riot and incitement to riot — are related to allegations that he helped fund a late-2023 protest in Merrimack, New Hampshire, against an Israeli weapons manufacturer, according to the summary of the complaint contained in the arrest order.
uncertain
he → underpin → order
The summary says Chambers provided funds for demonstrators used to purchase materials such as smoke bombs and to help cover protesters’ legal fees.
asserted
Chambers → say → fees
The third charge is international money laundering related to more than $7 million he transferred to bank accounts in Tunisia, where he was living in 2024.
asserted
he → relate → 2024
The Trump administration, according to the international arrest order, says the money was used to fund Hamas, which is a proscribed terror group in the U.S.
uncertain
which → accord → U.S.
The order does not say he is charged with material support for terrorism.
asserted
he → say → terrorism
Chambers’s family and supporters and multiple representatives of Club Africain, a Tunisian soccer club, have said the money was used to pay the club’s debts and related expenditures such as training grounds.
asserted
money → say → grounds
The club’s fan base has long supported Palestinians.
asserted
base → support → Palestinians
Grand Jury Refusal
Two women who participated in the 2023 protest against a factory operated by the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems recently announced their intentions not to cooperate with a November 4 grand jury hearing where they have been summoned as witnesses.
asserted
they → participate → witnesses
“If they are being summoned now, this suggests that the grand jury seems to be linked to Chambers’s case,” said Martínez, his lawyer.
uncertain
Martínez → summon → case
“It seems like a fishing expedition against him.”
asserted
It → seem → him
Kira Kelley, an attorney for the two women, said, “Context clues suggest this is about Fergie.”
asserted
this → say → Fergie
If the pair don’t answer questions from a federal prosector before the New Hampshire federal grand jury, they could risk a possible jail sentence for contempt.
uncertain
they → answer → contempt
Nonetheless, the two women — Bridget Shergalis and Sophie Ross — shared a statement with The Grayzone Thursday announcing their intention to refuse to testify.
asserted
women → share → intention
In an interview on the same day with The Intercept, the women recounted being under investigation for a year over the protest and being threatened with felony charges that carried potential sentences of decades in prison.
asserted
that → recount → prison
Shergalis and Ross said they turned down several deals for their cooperation.
asserted
they → say → cooperation
By the end of the ordeal, they were found guilty of misdemeanor offenses and received 60-day jail sentences.
asserted
they → find → sentences
Following that experience, said Ross, the pair decided to reject the subpoena to testify before a grand jury.
asserted
pair → follow → jury
“It was an easy decision for both of us,” Ross said.
asserted
Ross → say → us
Shergalis and Ross are slated to testify on Wednesday, at which time they plan to assert their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions from the federal prosecutor.
asserted
they → slat → prosecutor
At that point, a hearing before a judge may be scheduled, to determine whether to hold Shergalis and Ross in civil contempt, which could result in up to 18 months of prison, according to Kelley.
uncertain
which → schedule → Kelley
Martínez, who also worked on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s defense team, said the decision by Shergalis and Ross recalled that of Chelsea Manning, who twice refused to testify against Assange before a grand jury, serving time in prison in both instances.
asserted
who → work → instances
“It’s like Chelsea Manning, years later,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → Manning
Shergalis and Ross decided to go public with their plans after speaking with organizers behind the recently-launched NSPM-7 Defendants Union, a nationwide project for protesters targeted by the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize dissent as laid out in last year’s National Security Presidential Memorandum-7.
asserted
Shergalis → decide → Memorandum-7
The document, part of a broader effort to paint left-wing activism as terrorism, directs the FBI to go after “violent and terroristic activities” associated with “anti-fascism.”
asserted
document → paint → fascism
The NSPM-7 Defendants Union is centered around signing a pledge to follow practices such as not cooperating with law enforcement, adopting collective legal strategy when possible, and publicly announcing those strategies — a goal that runs against the secrecy surrounding federal indictments.
asserted
that → center → indictments
While secrecy benefits prosecutors before a grand jury, said Shergalis, “It’s good for all of us to be as transparent as possible.”
asserted
all → benefit → us
Shergalis, Ross, and Chambers have each signed the pledge, and the grand jury decision appears to be the first public test case of the union’s ideas.
asserted
decision → sign → ideas
“We should celebrate people across the country deciding to assert their legal rights boldly against the federal government and its NSPM-7 policy,” said de Janon, of the National Lawyers Guild.
asserted
Janon → celebrate → Guild
“We’re seeing NSPM-7 result in unprecedented levels of prosecution against protesters.”
asserted
NSPM-7 → see → protesters
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
