FACT CHECK: No, Bill Clinton Was Not Convicted Of Treason By A Military Tribunal

Trevor Schakohl | Legal Reporter

A post shared on Facebook claims former President Bill Clinton was recently convicted and sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal.

Verdict: False

Clinton has not been convicted or sentenced to prison by a military tribunal. The rumor stems from an article on a website stating that it features “humor, parody, and satire.”

Fact Check:

The lengthy June 25 post alleges the Office of Military Commissions on June 22 convicted Clinton on “charges of treason and child trafficking, but sentenced him to life in prison instead of death after he threw himself on the mercy of the court in a tearful collapse.” It features a photo of Clinton speaking.

The post goes on to describe the supposed final day of proceedings in the tribunal, including the prosecution allegedly presenting photographic evidence provided by the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. At the end, it claims Clinton has been sentenced to life in a Guantanamo Bay detention center.

In reality, Clinton has not been convicted or sentenced to life imprisonment for treason and child trafficking. Neither the Department of Justice nor the Department of Defense has announced anything to that effect in press releases. A search of PACER, a database of federal court records, also yielded no results for such a conviction or sentencing of the former president.

Check Your Fact recently debunked a video falsely alleging Clinton was being tried by a military tribunal. According to Yahoo! News, Clinton did an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” June 23, the day after the Facebook post claimed Clinton was sentenced to life in prison.  (RELATED: Is Ghislaine Maxwell Lady Gaga’s Aunt?)

The Facebook post’s text matches that from an article published by the website Real Raw News June 24. Real Raw News includes a disclaimer on its website that states, “This website contains humor, parody, and satire.” Some social media users, seemingly believing the content described actual events, have shared the text, despite that disclaimer.

The earlier false rumor of Clinton’s military trial stemmed from a Real Raw News article, as have other spurious claims reviewed by Check Your Fact.

Trevor Schakohl

Legal Reporter
Follow Trevor on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/tschakohl

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