Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps hang Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Tanya Skeen on January 31, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. There is no evidence of such an incident taking place and Skeen has, since November of 2023 worked for a defense contractor and not for the Department of Defense.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on February 3, 2024, titled "JAG Hangs Asst. Defense Sec. Tanya Skeen" (archived here). It began:
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps on Wednesday executed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Tanya M. Skeen, the culmination of a military tribunal that took place January 24 and which RRN has opted not to play-by-play because it was procedurally identical to a half-dozen other tribunals that saw Vice Admiral Darse E. Crandall prosecute Deep Staters with a penchant for thriftily giving American tax dollars to Ukrainian officials.
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JAG Hangs Asst. Defense Sec. Tanya Skeen
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps on Wednesday executed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Tanya M. Skeen, the culmination of a military tribunal that took place January 24 and which RRN has opted not to play-by-play because it was procedurally identical to a half-dozen other tribunals that saw Vice Admiral Darse E. Crandall prosecute Deep Staters with a penchant for thriftily giving American tax dollars to Ukrainian officials.
Lead Stories previously found the claim that the U.S. Marines arrested Skeen to be inaccurate. The Pentagon verified this claim as false, and noted: "The official LinkedIn account of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment posted an announcement of Skeen's retirement in August of 2023."
Skeen's new job, with defense technology contractor CACI, was announced November 23, 2023.
A Google search (archived here) using keywords "Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps" AND "executed" AND "Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Tanya M. Skeen" AND "January 31, 2024" also did not produce any results to substantiate this claim.
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon and the U.S. Navy for a response. This fact check will be updated as appropriate when a response is received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) can be read here.
Real Raw News
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
The website for Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that declares the site does not stand by the contents of the stories, calling them entertainment. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. ... We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
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.
