Did the FBI ignore evidence that Hillary Clinton put a hit out on Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh? No, that's not true: This is a work of satire put out by a site that trolls conservatives with fabricated stories in hopes they will be gullible enough to believe and share it as real news.
The claim originated from an article (archived here) where it was published by We Are Allod on February 14, 2020, under the title "FBI Ignored Evidence That Hillary Clinton Put A Hit Out On Bret Kavanaugh." It opened:
The Department of Justice has reportedly uncovered evidence that Hillary Clinton had a hit put out on Bret Kavanaugh [sic] a week before he was sworn in, but James Comey and the FBI covered it up. According to a leaked report from the White House:
'Clinton paid more than $5 million in retainer fees to hitmen across the country to eliminate Bret kavanaugh. She was questioned by then-Director Comey himself, and let go -- even though there was physical and circumstantial evidence to prove she wanted him dead.'
Users on social media saw only this:
First, the name of Kavanaugh is misspelled. Second there is, clearly, no such currency as a Yogi Bera Bond. This is a hoax, and there is no evidence the FBI was investigating Clinton for putting a hit on Kavanaugh - or anyone. And there is no evidence that the former Secretary of State and presidential hopeful solicited any hit. The entire story is made up, including the following:
The report was intentionally leaked from Mick Mulvaney's office in the hopes that the American people would see first-hand just how sick the Clinton Crime Family can be. According to Presidential aid, Art Tubolls:
'James Comey let a murderer go, and he has to pay for that. She has to pay for her crimes. Our sources say Clinton traded the promise of a high-ranking Deep State position for Comey's silence, along with several million dollars in negotiable Yogi Bera bonds.'
The story comes amid news that the Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey, the former head of the FBI, as well as former acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe - moves that greatly upset President Donald Trump.
In fact, the site, which goes by the name America's Last Line of Defense, comes with a clear satire disclaimer on each article:
sat·ire ~ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, OR ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
If you disagree with the definition of satire or have decided it is synonymous with "comedy," you should really just move along.
The owner and main writer of the site is self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has made it his full-time job to fool conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing his articles. He runs several other websites, including wearethellod.com, bustatroll.org or bebest.website. Sometimes, he is also known under his nickname "Busta Troll". A second man working on the sites is John Prager as revealed in this earlier story we wrote.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who often omit the satire disclaimer and any other hints the stories are fake. Blair has tried to get these sites shut down in the past, but new ones keep cropping up.
Blair and his operation were profiled by the Washington Post on November 17, 2018, by Eli Saslow:
'Nothing on this page is real': How lies become truth in online America
November 17 The only light in the house came from the glow of three computer monitors, and Christopher Blair, 46, sat down at a keyboard and started to type. His wife had left for work and his children were on their way to school, but waiting online was his other community, an unreality where nothing was exactly as it seemed.
If you are interested in learning more about Blair and the history of his sites, here is something to get you started:
The Ultimate Christopher Blair and America's Last Line of Defense Reading List | Lead Stories
STORY UPDATED: check for updates below. Yesterday Eli Saslow at the Washington Post wrote a fantastic article about Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has been trolling conservatives and Trump supporters online for years and occasionally even made a living out of it.
If you see one of his stories on a site that does not contain a satire disclaimer, assume it is fake news. If you do see the satire disclaimer, it is, of course, also fake news.
NewsGuard, a company that uses trained journalists to rank the reliability of websites, describes wearethellod.com as:
A site that publishes false stories and hoaxes that are often mistaken for real news, part of a network named America's Last Line of Defense run by hoax perpetrator Christopher Blair.
According to NewsGuard, the site does not maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability. Read their full assessment here.
We wrote about wearethellod.com before. Here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: DOJ Did NOT Order Raid On Obama Compound After Massive Fraud Found In Audit
- Fake News: Trump Did NOT Invoke Article 9 To Begin Prosecution Of Democrats For Treason
- Fake News: Kaepernick Did NOT Lobby To Remove National Anthem From Football
- Fake News: Clarence Thomas Did NOT Say SCOTUS Is Ready To 'Crush The Coup Against President Trump'
- Fake News: Barr Did NOT File Charges, Did NOT Indict Obama
