Fact Check

Sean Spicer Handed Mid-Briefing Note Saying, “You Just Committed a Felony”?

Reports about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's being given an ominous note in the middle of a press briefing originated in satire.

Published March 11, 2017

 (Wikimedia Commons)
Image Via Wikimedia Commons
Claim:
An aide handed Sean Spicer a note that read “You just committed a felony" in the middle of a press briefing.

On 9 March 2017, the web site The Bulletin published an article reporting that White House Secretary Sean Spicer had been delivered an ominous note while he was in the midst of conducting a press briefing:

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was in the middle of his daily press briefing Thursday when an aide handed him a note that said, “You just committed a felony,” according to a senior White House official with knowledge of the note’s contents.

Spicer paused briefly after reading the note, then cleared his throat and continued with the briefing, taking a question from Jonathan Karl of ABC News.

The alleged felony the note referred to apparently centers around Spicer’s remarks during the briefing about an alleged Justice Department investigation into ties between President Trump, his campaign team and officials representing the Russian government. Spicer said the investigators have, “no evidence, zero.”

Although this report was circulated by many social media users as if it were an actual news article, it originated with The Bulletin, whose tagline notes that the site presents "The News, In Satire Form."

This Sean Spicer "felony note" article was just another spoof of the Trump administration, along with others from The Bulletin bearing headlines such as "Trump Kind of Flattered People Think He’s Smart Enough to Operate on Multiple Levels" and "Melania Trump Thrilled with How Often Her Husband Is Unavailable."

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

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