Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps place New York State Attorney General Letitia James under arrest for committing "treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors"? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. The website where this claim was made also has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on November 2, 2023, and entitled "Leticia James Arrested" (archived here). The article's first sentence is:
United States Navy JAG investigators on Tuesday arrested New York Attorney General Letitia James of treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors following an investigation that began shortly after she and her criminal associates filed a frivolous lawsuit against the Trump Organization, a JAG source told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Leticia James Arrested
United States Navy JAG investigators on Tuesday arrested New York District Attorney Leticia James of treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors following an investigation that began shortly after she and her criminal associates filed a frivolous lawsuit against the Trump Organization, a JAG source told Real Raw News.
In an email to Lead Stories on November 3, 2023, a Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that:
This claim is false.
James' verified Twitter account was active on October 31, 2023, when the article claims she was arrested.
On October 31, 2023, the account posted a tweet (archived here) updating constituents about her office's ongoing prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The account also tweeted a post (archived here) on November 3, 2023, about Uber and Lyft agreeing to pay $328 million for shortchanging their drivers. The account did not post that James had been arrested.
James was photographed in public on November 1, 2023, arriving at court in New York for Trump's civil fraud trial and on November 2, 2023, in the exact location, taking a lunch break during the same trial.
Under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, the military does not have the authority to arrest civilians. This act can be voided under certain circumstances explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution or Act of Congress. Congress.gov does not show legislation making such authorization.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention "Letitia James" can be read here.
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 Us 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 Us 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," resident 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 that describedrealrawnews.com as "[a]n 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.
