Fact check: Article alleging military arrest of Biden adviser is fiction
The claim: Senior Biden adviser Mike Donilon arrested by military
Posts on social media claim a top adviser to President Joe Biden was arrested by the military Nov. 28.
"U.S. Marines on Saturday served a military arrest warrant on Deep State agent Mike Donilon, an American attorney and campaign consultant who served as a Senior Advisor to fake President Joe Biden," reads a Dec. 1 Facebook post.
The claim, which originated on the website Real Raw News, is parroted by a number of other Facebook users. The Real Raw News blog has accumulated more than 500 interactions on Facebook and nearly 500 likes on Twitter, a search of the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle found.
But the claim is nonsense. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY that Donilon was not arrested by the Marine Corps. Real Raw News frequently writes false stories about nonexistent military arrests and executions.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users who shared the post and Real Raw News' Michael Baxter for comment.
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Biden adviser not arrested
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ryan Bruce, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told USA TODAY in an email that "no reference of the Marine Corps in the story is based in fact."
A Google search of the phrases "Mike Donilon arrested" and "Donilon arrest" turned up only repeat postings of the Real Raw News article and a Lead Stories fact-check debunking it.
Real Raw News has a history of promulgating false claims on its website, many of them related to supposed military arrests and executions.
USA TODAY and other outlets have debunked claims that the military arrested and hanged Hillary Clinton, arrested Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., arrested Bill Gates, arrested Hunter Biden and put Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett under house arrest.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Donilon was arrested by the military. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY Donilon was not arrested by the Marine Corps.
Our fact-check sources:
Capt. Ryan Bruce, Dec. 2, email exchange with USA TODAY
Google, retrieved Dec. 2, search: "Mike Donilon arrested"
Google, retrieved Dec. 2, search: "Donilon arrest"
Lead Stories, Dec. 1, Fact Check: U.S. Military Did NOT Arrest President Biden's Senior Advisor Mike Donilon
USA TODAY, March 8, Fact check: Hillary Clinton was not arrested by Navy SEALs acting on Trump's order
USA TODAY, June 17, Fact check: Hillary Clinton was not hanged at Guantanamo Bay
USA TODAY, June 29, Fact check: Adam Schiff latest politician targeted in QAnon arrest hoax
USA TODAY, Aug. 6, Fact check: Bill Gates was not arrested by the US military
USA TODAY, Sept. 2, Fact check: False claim that military arrested Hunter Biden
USA TODAY, June 2, Fact check: False claim about Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim of senior Biden adviser's military arrest