FACT CHECK: Are Rod Rosenstein And John Podesta The Sons Of Nazi Leaders?
A post shared on Instagram purports former U.S. deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and former Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta are the sons of Nazi leaders Heinrich Himmler and Josef Mengele, respectively.
View this post on Instagram
Verdict: False
There is no evidence supporting the purported claim.
Fact Check:
Rosenstein said a Department of Justice case against former President Donald Trump is “viable” after a special counsel was appointed to the federal investigation, according to The Hill. Podesta was chosen to advise President Joe Biden on federal spending around clean energy in September 2022, The New York Times reported.
The Instagram post purports Rosenstein and Podesta are the sons of Nazi leaders Himmler and Mengele, respectively. “How did everybody miss it? Cause they were so busy shoving consumerism and a fake reality down our throats,” the post’s caption reads.
The claim is false. There are no credible news reports suggesting Rosenstein and Podesta are the sons of Nazi leaders Himmler and Mengele, respectively. Likewise, neither Rosenstein nor Podesta has publicly commented on the claim via their social media accounts.
During 2018 remarks to alumni of Central High School in Philadelphia, Rosenstein shared that his father, Robert Rosenstein, was a member of the 199th class before attending Temple University and running a small business. At no point did Rosenstein mention the purported claim that he was Himmler’s son while discussing his father’s background during the remarks. (RELATED: Is Laurance Rockefeller Related To John Podesta And Chester Bennington?)
In addition, a keyword search reveals a 2007 Illinois Senate resolution acknowledging the death of Podesta’s mother, Mary Podesta. The resolution indicates Podesta and his brother, Tony Podesta, are the sons of Mary Podesta and John Podesta, Sr. Nowhere in the resolution does the purported claim appear.
A subsequent keyword search also reveals Mengele is not the man pictured in the Instagram post.
Mengele only had one son, Rolf, who was born in 1944 and has two children, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Himmler had three children, including Gurdun Himmler, who insisted her father did nothing wrong during the Nazi regime, The New York Times reported.
Check Your Fact has contacted Podesta and Rosenstein for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
