Did former House Speaker Nancy refuse a judge's demand that she hand over proof that she organized the "J6" riot at the U.S. Capitol? No, that's not true: The "report" originated from a site that creates fake news stories in hopes conservatives will embarrass themselves by posting them as if they were true. The post included a prominent "Satire" label and originates from a digital content creator that clearly declares everything on its webpages and social media accounts is fake.
The Pelosi claim originated in a May 13, 2025 Facebook post (archived here) on the America's Last Line of Defense page. It opened: "Pelosi has been refusing to comply with lawful orders for weeks.". It continued:
She knows when she does, they'll find exactly what they're looking for: Proof that she organized the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot by Lead Stories.)
As of May 27, 2025, Google News' index of thousands of news sites showed no reports of pending court orders demanding Pelosi hand over records related to the so-called January 6 riot.
The America's Last Line of Defense page is part of the "America's Last Line of Defense" network of satire websites run by self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair from Maine along with a loose confederation of friends and allies. He runs several websites and Facebook pages with visible satire disclaimers everywhere. They mostly publish made-up stories with headlines specifically created to trigger Republicans, conservatives and evangelical Christians into angrily sharing or commenting on the story on Facebook without actually reading the full article, exposing them to mockery and ridicule by fans of the sites and pages.
Every site in the network has an about page that reads (in part):
About Satire
Before you complain and decide satire is synonymous with "comedy":sat·ire
ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. See above if you're still having an issue with that satire thing.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who omit the satire disclaimer and other hints the stories are fake. One of the most persistent networks of such sites is run by a man from Pakistan named Kashif Shahzad Khokhar (aka "DashiKashi") who has spammed hundreds of such stolen stories into conservative and right-wing Facebook pages in order to profit from the ad revenue.
When fact checkers point this out to the people liking and sharing these copycat stories some of them get mad at the fact checkers instead of directing their anger at the foreign spammers or the liberal satire writers. Others send a polite "thank you" note, which is much appreciated.
