Fact Check

Did a Court Order Obama to Pay $400 Million in Restitution?

No huge sum of money was "lost," or is being personally repaid, by former President Obama.

Published March 10, 2018

 (Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock, Inc.)
Image courtesy of Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock, Inc.
Claim:
A federal appeals court has ordered that Barack Obama repay $400 million to the American people.

On 10 March 2018, the Daily World Update web site published an article reporting that a federal appeals court had ordered former President Barack Obama to repay $400 million to the American people for funds that were supposedly "lost" during a transaction with Iran:

The West Texas Federal Appeals Court, operating out of the 33rd District, has ordered that Barack Obama repay $400 Million to the American people for funds he says were “lost” during an illegal transaction with Iranian hard-liners. Judge Gary Jones and Judge Amanda Perry stood together to overrule Judge Kris Weinshenker in a split decision.

There was no truth to this report, which originated with the Daily World Update, a site that is part of a network of fake news sites dedicated to inflammatory clickbaiting and political trolling under the guise of producing "satire."

Sources

Eagleton, Flagg.   "Court Orders Obama to Pay $400 Million in Restitution."     Daily World Update.   10 March 2018.

The Fake News Codex.   "Christopher Blair Network."     Accessed 11 March 2018.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.