Was U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen "hanged at GITMO"? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. The website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) where it was published by Real Raw News on October 31, 2023, under the title "Janet Yellen Hanged at GITMO." It opened:
October 18, GITMO.
Janet Yellen, the condemned, had pithy comments for Adm. Crandall and a delegation of officers as she stood atop the gallows wearing a rope necklace the morning of October 18.'I hate you. I hate you, Crandall,' Yellen said, her voice strained and hoarse. 'This is our country. Do you understand me? This is our country, ours, not yours, and nothing you do will change that. Do you hear me, Crandall?
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: Real Raw News screenshot taken on Wed Nov 1 16:53:03 2023 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to the Office of the Secretary of Defense regarding this claim. In a November 1, 2023, email, a Pentagon duty officer responded:
This claim is false.
Lead Stories has reached out to the Department of the Treasury and will update this story if a response is received.
Real Raw News
Real Raw News is a website that consistently publishes made-up stories about U.S. politics. The well-written English and news-style layout of the website make it look like a legitimate news source, so it often fools people into believing the stories are real. Screenshots and copies of the stories regularly turn up on other websites or on social media where they are presented as real.
It bills itself as "humor, parody and satire" on the "about" page (archived here):
Disclaimer:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
The same "about" page claims the main author is a man named Michael Baxter. In 2021 a PolitiFact article (archived here) identified the writer as a "Michael Tuffin" in Texas based on records found in a GoFundMe campaign set up to support the site.
NewsGuard, a tool that provides credibility ratings for websites, published a five-page PDF report (archived here) in 2021 describing realrawnews.com as, "An anonymously run website that has published baseless and debunked conspiracies about COVID-19 and U.S. politics." It cautioned that the website severely violates basic journalistic standards."
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items are collected here.
