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Conspiracy Theory Baselessly Claims Biden Had Navy SEALs Killed - FactCheck.org

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Quick TakeFull Story&nbsp;A baseless conspiracy theory peddled at a recent conservative political conference migrated to social media, spreading the outrageous claim that former Vice President Joe Biden allowed the killing of Navy SEALs as part of a massive scandal.The unfounded theory has traveled across platforms, getting assistance on Twitter from President Donald Trump.“The tweet linked to a on a conservative commentary site about a supposed “whistleblower” who claims that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was not actually killed in May 2011, and that the Obama administration had to pay Iran billions of dollars — and kill off Navy SEALs — as part of a cover-up. The underlying theory to this false narrative of a botched bin Laden raid intertwines several real events: an attack on U.S. military members in 2011, the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012 and the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015.Trump’s retweet itself became a part of the narrative for online conspiracy theorists, who viewed it as confirmatory. One relayed that Trump “confirms” the “intel” that Biden “directly participated in a plot to have #SEALTeam6 MURDERED, then arranged a massive cash deal as part of a cover up.” Another , “Trump KNOWS.”In reality, neither Trump nor his administration has publicly offered any evidence supporting the wild tale behind the viral posts.We reached out to Trump’s reelection campaign to ask what evidence there is to support such a theory, and we were referred to the White House for comment. The White House did not answer our inquiry.The conspiracy theory was first during an American Priority conference, “,” held at Trump National Doral in Florida on Oct. 8-11, during a presentation by Nick Noe, a Trump supporter and Air Force veteran, and Charles Woods, the father of a former Navy SEAL killed in the Benghazi attacks.The presentation featured a video of Noe and Woods withThe claims made at AMP Fest were then on social media by Anna Khait, a and former who has written for the conservative website the Epoch Times. In a viral whose description hawks she suggests that the U.S. should “hang them” when referring to former Obama administration officials she accuses of “treason.” The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times.No Proof SEALs Killed Bin Laden’s ‘Double’In May 2011, the U.S. it had assassinated bin Laden. SEAL TeamfileAlthough the dubious websites promoting his claims call him a “CIA whistleblower,” Parrot told us, “I’ve never been employed by the CIA, I do not work for the CIA.” In fact, he said, “I have never been hired by any agency anywhere.” He blamed “the media” for getting that wrong.“They killed Osama bin Laden’s double,” Parrot claims without any evidence. “One of the wives went running towards them before he shot him and said, don’t shoot, he’s a double.”Robert O’Neill — the former Navy SEAL who he fired the shot that killed bin Laden — on Twitter in response to the claims: “Distorted Take on Iran Nuclear DealParrot’s claim that Iran extorted the Obama administration for “$152 billion” over bin Laden is similarly unsubstantiated.He declined to explain that claim any further during our phone interview with him. But the claim appears to be based on a combination of two frequently misunderstood deals involving the U.S. and Iran.First, as we’ve , the 2015 to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons program resulted in unfreezing Iranian assets that were held mostly in foreign banks. Six countries and the European Union signed onto the agreement — it wasn’t between the U.S. and Iran, alone. The U.S. did not send $150 billion in cash to Iran.Also, it’s unclear how much money was freed up in the deal. A high-end estimate put the total worth of the Iranian assets at $150 billion. But the U.S. Treasury Department estimates the total was about $50 billion in “usable liquid assets,” according to 2015 from Adam Szubin, acting under secretary of treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. Most claims about the deal cite the high-end estimate, though, and often mischaracterize other aspects.The following year, the $1.7 billion to Iran as repayment of $400 million for military equipment that Iran paid for in the 1970s, but never received, plus interest.Baseless Claim That Biden Ordered ‘Extortion 17’Three months after the raid that killed bin Laden, Taliban fighters &nbsp;a Chinook helicopter carrying , including &nbsp;of SEAL Team 6, who were on a mission to capture a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. The episode is often&nbsp; to as “Extortion 17,” the call sign for the helicopter transporting the troops, and it has been the subject of previous .Parrot references this event in the video, claiming, “Biden paid with the blood of SEAL Team 6 when he had them killed.”Noe asks in the video: “That means that SEAL Team 6 was shot down on purpose after the trophy kill to ensure that no dead man can tell no tales?”“You are correct,” Parrot says.Noe also said during the AMP Fest conference that, “I don’t know if any of you are familiar with the fact that SEAL team 6, after they killed bin Laden, almost all of them were killed very shortly after.”But O’Neill, the former SEAL (who has written a book telling his story about killing bin Laden), said none of the members who took part in the bin Laden mission died in Extortion 17.“SEAL Team 6 had an estimated 250 to 300 operators at the time, to the Washington Post.Another former SEAL Team 6 member has about the events and said he also shot bin Laden during the raid.There was a subsequent into Extortion 17, which found that the helicopter “was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired by a Taliban fighter as the helicopter neared its landing zone.”Unsubstantiated Link to Benghazi AttacksOn Sept. 11, 2012,After suggesting that Extortion 17 was planned by U.S. leaders to cover up a botched bin Laden raid, Noe asserts in the video that the helicopter was shot down using a missile from the CIA — and that the Benghazi attacks the following year was part of an effort to then cover that up.We found no evidence to back up those claims.When we asked Noe in a phone interview what documents he could provide to support them, he said, “The Benghazi attacks have been immensely scrutinized through — including a two-year probe by the Republican-ledIt also offersWe asked former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, who led the select committee’s investigation, about that and he told us that he hadn’t heard anything about the theory connecting the two.“Everything the Committee found, for which there was an evidentiary basis, was included in our Select Committee report,” Gowdy said in an email. “I have never heard of either of the ‘theories’ you referenced, not one word from any witness, including the survivors of the attacks.”In our phone interview with Noe, he said that he has now turned over documents regarding his findings to a member of Congress. He declined to tell us who that is.This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Clickfor more.Sources“.” Subcommittee on National Security, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House.&nbsp;17 Feb 2014.“.” American Priority. Accessed 14 Oct 2020.“.” Anna Khait. YouTube. 12 Oct 2020.Borden, Emma. “.” Brookings Institution. 3 Oct 2016.Darack, Ed. “.” Newsweek. 17 Aug 31.Fichera, Angelo. “.” FactCheck.org. 13 Jun 2019.“.” U.S. House. 7 Dec 2016.Hale Spencer, Saranac. “” FactCheck.org. 1 Mar 2019.Murray, Michael. “.” ABC News. 2 May 2011.O’Neill, Robert. “.” Twitter. 14 Oct 2020.O’Neill, Robert. “.” Twitter. 14 Oct 2020.“.” Obama White House. 2 May 2011.Parrot, Alan. Falconer. Telephone interview. 14 Oct 2020.Sieff, Kevin. “.” Washington Post. 6 Aug 2011.Ask FactCheckHave a question?

Quick TakeFull Story&nbsp;A baseless conspiracy theory peddled at a recent conservative political conference migrated to social media, spreading the outrageous claim that former Vice President Joe Biden allowed the killing of Navy SEALs as part of a massive scandal.The unfounded theory has traveled across platforms, getting assistance on Twitter from President Donald Trump.“The tweet linked to a on a conservative commentary site about a supposed “whistleblower” who claims that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was not actually killed in May 2011, and that the Obama administration had...

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Angelo Fichera

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Conspiracy Theory Baselessly Claims Biden Had Navy SEALs Killed - FactCheck.org

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