Fact Check: Did the Military Arrest the White House Deputy Chief of Staff?
No.
A widely shared article from Real Raw News, which describes itself as trying “to bring light to topics often ignored by others,” claims that the military arrested President Joe Biden’s campaign manager and White House deputy chief of staff, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon.
The article also claims that: “The charge on a military arrest warrant was suspicion of treason, which, if proven, can carry a death sentence.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates told The Dispatch Fact Check via email that this claim is false.
The article reports that “White Hats took interest in O’Malley Dillon after viewing conservative author Dinesh D’Souza’s 2000 Mules documentary,” alleging that she was part of the supposed ballot harvest conspiracy theory that is the subject of the film.
D’Souza’s 2000 Mules claims to have cell phone geolocation data and video surveillance of mail-in ballot drop boxes to prove that Biden lost the 2020 election. The film, however, as we noted in an earlier fact check, is riddled with errors and based on a flawed premise.
The article also describes the movie incorrectly, falsely claiming that 2000 Mules has “surveillance video of seedy individuals making repeated trips to drop boxes.” As we noted in our fact check, this is a false claim. The movie doesn’t have footage of any supposed “mules,” or ballot harvesters, making multiple trips to ballot drop boxes.
Furthermore, Real Raw News has a history of promoting false and conspiratorial content, with reports of arrests of public figures by military “white hats” in particular being a recurring theme. We have previously fact checked the false claims that David Axelrod, former senior adviser to Barack Obama and political commentator for CNN, was arrested, and the claim that Navy SEALs arrested Hillary Clinton.
There is also a disclaimer on the website that reads: “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 [sic] legal counsel.”
If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.
In the late 90's, during my 3rd year of law school, I worked for the Alderson Legal Assistance Program. That was a legal clinic offering legal assistance to the inmates at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp. That was the prison that later had Martha Stewart as a guest. One thing I found interesting were the rumors that spread throughout the prison. One widely held belief was that Congress was on the verge of passing the "Hillary Clinton Law" that would allow non violent first time offenders to skip prison and do their time under home arrest. This was known as the Hillary Clinton Law because they believed she was going to be convicted for Whitewater related crimes and that Congress would pass that law so that she wouldn't have to go to Alderson. I remember discussing the rumor with one inmate telling her that I didn't think she would be convicted of anything and besides the GOP controlled Congress would be unlikely to pass a law to keep her out of jail. But the inmate insisted the rumor was true. Unfortunately, it seems like social media is even worse than a prison grapevine as far as conspiracy theories are concerned.
Well if it's in a Dinesh D'Souza film it must be true.