Fact Check

Was Chelsea Clinton 'Thrown to the Floor' and Handcuffed?

A fake news site spread a claim that a "furious" Chelsea Clinton was roughly detained on corruption charges after a confession by a nonexistent senator.

Published June 12, 2017

 (a katz / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via a katz / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
"A furious Chelsea Clinton" was handcuffed and dragged away after Sen. Hal Lindsay exposed Clinton corruption.

On 11 June 2017, Last Line of Defense published an article (titled: "Furious Chelsea Clinton Thrown To The Floor And Hancuffed After Senator Lindsay Scandal Linked To Clinton Foundation") which reported that Clinton had been arrested in France following a confession from a New Jersey senator:

Clinton, who has been the head of the family foundation for some time now, was furious to find out that her parents openly used the cargo ships and planes that were supposed to be vessels of charity, for worldwide drug smuggling, the black market, human trafficking and even to transport terrorists.

With the arrest and confession of New Jersey Senator Hal Lindsay, tying the ships and foundation to drugs on a billion dollar scale, things have obviously gotten tense for poor Chelsea, whose name was on the ship that was raided in Baltimore that started this whole mess ... She tried to physically remove herself from the scene, saying she was on her way to her plane, but the Clintons don’t fly commercial. A private jet was running on the tarmac waiting for Chelsea with no flight plan filed and no reason to be there. She was obviously trying to flee. She was remanded to custody and handed to the US Marshals, who will make sure she makes whatever appointment is awaiting her back home.

There is no senator with the name Hal Lindsay, in New Jersey or in any other state. However, there is a mustachioed octogenarian televangelist named Hal Lindsey, who, according to his web site, performs "news analysis of current events from the perspective of Bible prophecy", but is not involved with Chelsea Clinton in any way that we could find.

Despite the fact that there is a public figure named Hal Lindsay (not Lindsey), the story is a complete fabrication. The Last Line of Defense is a site that publishes no actual news, and which carries a disclaimer that explains:

DISCLAIMER: America’s Last Line of Defense is a satirical publication that uses the imagination of liberals to expose the extreme bigotry and hate and subsequent blind gullibility that festers in right-wing nutjobs. We present fiction as fact and our sources don’t actually exist. Names that represent actual people and places are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality.

Prior to claiming that Chelsea Clinton had been led away in handcuffs, the site appeared to report that President Barack Obama demanded a lavish burial plot, that Monica Lewinsky was found dead (as was Trey Gowdy's son), and that Nancy Pelosi's son had been arrested on a murder charge. None of these stories are true.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.