A tweet alleging to reveal an “unsealed” list of politicians linked to accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has gone viral. But is it real?
The claim appeared in a tweet from the account @SubtleBodhi on Monday which has since garnered over 66,000 retweets and 88,000 likes.
“So In case you guys needed to know,” the tweet begins. “#Ghislainemaxwelllist became unsealed some time yesterday and here’s what happened while y’all were distracted by bullshit.”
A tweet thread goes on to list the identities of around 60 individuals whose names were supposedly revealed as part of the ongoing case against Maxwell.
In one tweet, for example, @SubtleBodhi claims that Rep. Keith Farnham (D-Ill.) “has resigned” after being charged with possession of child pornography.
The account goes on to list numerous Republicans and Democrats as well as other government employees allegedly tied to pedophilia.
The source of the information appears to come from bad-boys.us, a website which features an interactive map that allows users to view criminals cases across the country.
So are any of the claims being made true? Have high-profile individuals been exposed as part of Maxwell’s criminal proceedings?
To begin with, nearly every single named listed, with the exception of those such as deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, are not related to the case against Maxwell. The names listed were also not recently “unsealed” as part of the case.
The first individual listed in the tweet thread, Rep. Keith Farnham (D-Ill.), doesn’t even currently hold public office. It is true, however, that he did resign after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography in 2014.
The fact is, the viral tweet thread merely lists old and already public cases relating to child abuse and falsely labels them as current and tied to Maxwell.
It appears even @SubtleBodhi eventually became aware of this fact but refused to admit that his wording was incorrect and deceptive.
“The older cases you were unaware of still deserve your attention and do not detract from the level of filth that has infiltrated this country and the world,” he tweeted.
But the misleading list wasn’t even compiled by @SubtleBodhi to begin with. The same names and charges using the exact same wording appeared on a QAnon conspiracy website more than a week earlier.
Followers of QAnon, who believe that entities within the federal government are working with President Donald Trump to dismantle a Democrat-run pedophile network, have long fantasized about mass arrests that never materialize.
The list appears to have convinced some that the mass arrests had finally arrived, although many others were able to determine that the information was outdated.
Despite the legitimate criticisms over his false claims, @SubtleBodhi continued to shift blame elsewhere.
“If you feel misled by the opening tweet, imagine how the victims of rape and violence feel,” he tweeted. “And pull your head out of your ass while you’re at it.”
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