Social media users are sharing content online claiming that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Gina Haspel, was arrested, injured or found dead. These claims, probably due to QAnon conspiracy theorists, are untrue.
Examples can be seen here and here.
In the screenshot of an article of November 29, 2020 in this post, it is alleged that Haspel was arrested after she was injured in Frankfurt, Germany, during a CIA raid to secure “the servers”.
The article explains that five special forces and a CIA official were killed during the raid and Haspel was flown to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (GITMO) where she was treated and given a ‘tribunal for treason’.
The claim adds that Haspel ‘agreed to help Trump for a lighter life sentence that can be revoked if she does not want to cooperate’. The article contains grammar and spelling errors, which spelled Haspel’s name incorrectly as ‘Hasple’.
The allegation appears to stem from a conspiracy theory about the US military seizing election servers of the electronic voting company Scytl in Germany. Reuters Fact Check settled this claim earlier here.
Scytl said in a statement that the US military has not seized any of them, and that they do not have offices in Germany (here, here).
Nicole de Haay, a CIA spokeswoman, told Reuters in an email: “Well … this is the most absurd investigation I have ever conducted, but I’m glad to tell you that Director Haspel is alive and well. is in the office. “
The allegations that Haspel was arrested and injured during a CIA attack or that she was found dead are false. The reports on social media provide no source or evidence for their claims. The raid of the building where she claims to have been arrested or injured did not take place.
It is unclear where this screenshot or claim originated, but the activity online appears to have come primarily from groups and boards filled with QAnon content.
One screenshot was posted here on November 30, 2020 by Rumor Mill News. Reuters appeared on a QAnon website the same day, and it’s visible in this 8kun file. 8kun, formerly 8chan, is a fringe message board that is becoming increasingly popular among QAnon conspiracy theorists (here).
Another message visible here shows a screenshot of a tweet claiming that Haspel died of ‘natural causes’ and that it is’ viral in government circles’, but that there is currently a serious news shortage.’
This post is from an account that has now been suspended here and was also posted on the Qanon website by Reuters, and visible here in another 8kun file.
VERDICT
Untrue. There is no evidence that CIA Director Gina Haspel was arrested or injured during a CIA raid in Germany or found dead. The raid itself was unleashed.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.