Did the military arrest former FBI Director James Comey? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the office of the secretary of defense said no such arrest happened. An article making the claim relies on a purported unnamed source and appears on a website that's known for publishing false allegations. Lead Stories could find no credible confirmation of the story and the Posse Comitatus Act broadly prohibits the U.S. military from conducting arrests, with limited exceptions.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by Real Raw News on April 21, 2021. The post, which was titled, "Military Arrests James Comey," opened:
The U.S. military has arrested disgraced former FBI Director James Comey on charges of treason, sedition, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting persons actively involved in criminal behavior, Real Raw News has learned.
Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Military Arrests James Comey - Real Raw News
The U.S. military has arrested disgraced former FBI Director James Comey on charges of treason, sedition, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting persons actively involved in criminal behavior, Real Raw News has learned. Donald J. Trump greenlit the Tuesday morning raid on Comey's lavish, suburban home after speaking to Marine Corps Col. John Lynch, [...]
The article continued:
Donald J. Trump greenlit the Tuesday morning raid on Comey's lavish, suburban home after speaking to Marine Corps Col. John Lynch, commanding officer of the Marine Raider regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Col. Lynch committed at least two 4-man squads to the mission, said a confidential source involved in Trump's quest to depose Joseph Biden and restore America to the people.
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon to ask about the alleged arrest. In an email, dated April 26, 2021, a duty officer for the office of the secretary of defense responded:
This is false.
Under federal law, a military arrest of a citizen would be highly unusual, as such actions are prohibited under the Posse Comitatus Act. Some limited exceptions apply, such as Coast Guard arrest of drug smugglers.
We also looked for other stories on the purported arrest and could find no credible corroboration. The article relies on the word of a single unnamed source, much like other false claims published by Real Raw News.
The website has reported, and Lead Stories has debunked, that U.S. Special Forces arrested former Hillary Clinton campaign aides John Podesta and Huma Abedin (they didn't); that Navy SEALs arrested Clinton (they didn't); and that she was convicted by a military tribunal on April 16, 2021 (she wasn't).
The article about Comey claimed:
In closing, we asked our source why, with so many arrests dropping, family and friends of the accused haven't complained to CNN or MSNBC about their loved ones being abducted in the dead of night.
'The only explanation is the Deep State is keeping them silent,' our source said. 'If it became officially known that people like Clinton, Podesta, Abedin, and now Comey have been nabbed by the military, it would weaken the Deep State's hold on society--because it would show they are losing. And the Deep Staters always want to give the appearance of winning. They won't be able to for much longer.'
Another, much more likely, scenario is that the alleged arrests reported by Real Raw News are imagined. Family members aren't complaining because their loved ones have not been taken into custody.
Lead Stories has collected here all of our previous debunks of Real Raw News.
