Was Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrested by U.S. Navy SEALs on June 1, 2021? No, that's not true: Not only is there no credible information about such an arrest, but Fauci has made several telecommunications and public appearances since June 1, 2021 and federal law bars the U.S. military from taking action in internal civic affairs.
The claim originally appeared in an episode (archived here) of "Dark Outpost" titled "06-22-2021 FAUCI IN CUSTODY!" The episode was hosted by David Zublick and was posted on June 22, 2021, and the claim made its way to social media posts on other platforms including Instagram and Tumblr. The episode is nearly two hours long, but this fact check is limited to the broad claim of Fauci's arrest.
At the seven-minute and 15-second mark of the video, Zublick said:
Alright, folks. Dark Outpost has learned exclusively that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the embattled head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was arrested at the beginning of this month, June the first, at his home in Washington, D.C. by Navy SEALs operating on the direct orders of President Donald Trump, as Fauci was planning to flee the United States on the wake of the revelation of damning emails which suggest the doctor was involved in the creation of the SARS-CoV2 virus.
This is how the video appeared to viewers on Bitchute on June 23, 2021:
Dark Outpost 06-22-2021 Fauci In Custody!
Get The Awesome Solar Night Light Now! Click Here!???? http://www.nightsolarlight.com Get 52% OFF Plus FREE SHIPPING ^^^ ???????????? Dark Outpost has learned exclusively that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the embattled head of the National Institute of Allergy and Inf...
Since June 1, 2021, Fauci has lent his expertise as the nation's top infectious disease expert on several occasions. On June 3, 2021, he participated in a press briefing held between the White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials: the same was true on June 8, 2021 and June 17, 2021. He also made a public appearance with first lady Jill Biden on June 6, 2021, at a vaccination clinic at a church in Harlem.
After searching for "Anthony Fauci" in the name search function of the District of Columbia Superior Court's eAccess system and searching for "Fauci arrest," "Fauci June 1 2021" and "Navy SEALs Fauci" using Google's search engine, Lead Stories could find no credible evidence that Fauci was arrested.
Other details of the claim are also baseless. In an email to Lead Stories on June 23, 2021, Joshua Kastenberg, an associate professor of law at the University of New Mexico who specializes in national security law, addressed whether Navy SEALs would even be allowed to arrest Fauci:
While it is true that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1877 only applies to the Army and by implication the Air Force, there are regulations in place which would have prevented this. The regulations apply the act to the Marine Corps and the Navy The Navy Seals would have only been permitted to do so if the government were in a state of collapse and law enforcement had been unable to do so - and this had been ordered by the Attorney General of the US in conjunction with the Department of Defense.
In an earlier debunk, Lead Stories explained that former presidents do not retain control of the military under the U.S. Constitution. As Trump is a former president, he would not be able to control the armed forces. Only the current U.S. president, who at the time of writing is Joe Biden, can act as commander in chief. Kastenberg added:
A former president has no command in chief authority whatsoever. The newest enlistee in the military is under no obligation to follow the orders of a former president. At most they are entitled to some military emoluments such as being treated at the Bethesda Naval hospital and of course there is often a military parade at their funerals. None of this gives the authority to issue an order.
Additionally, the social media posts and articles that repeated the claim made in the video included a version of an image that originated on The Onion, a satire website. The article on The Onion that used the image was titled "Trump Administration Plants 137,000 Corpses In Fauci's Bed To Frame Him For Coronavirus Deaths" and was published on July 13, 2020. A screenshot of the article and the image is included below:
(Source: The Onion screenshot taken on Wed Jun 23 16:55:32 2021 UTC)
Lead Stories has previously debunked other claims made by David Zublick.
