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A letter attributed to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been shared more than a thousand times on Facebook and Twitter since January 10. In it, the elected advises the mayor of Portland to “accuser Trump“in the event of uncontrolled violence in his city, promising him the support of the media. It is a fake, according to the spokespersons of the two elected officials. In addition, the signature and the alphanumeric code visible at the foot of the letter appear on a letter from Nancy Pelosi for sale on Ebay, but this alphanumeric code is unique, depending on the company that issued it.
“4: When you can no longer enforce the order at all, “ACCUSE TRUMP”! (I can’t stress point 4 enough, it worked all the times we used (this method) and again the press told me that they will support and fact-check any claims we will do !! THIS IS POLITICAL GOLD !!)“, can we read in the translated version of the letter allegedly addressed to the mayor of Portland (Oregon), scene in 2020 of several months of demonstrations – sometimes violent – against police brutality.
Twitter screenshot taken on 01/12/2021–
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“I am unfortunately not even surprised by this kind of guidelines“, reacts a user under the Facebook post above.
Facebook screenshot taken on 01/12/2021–
This letter, also relayed in English, is circulating as pro-Trump protesters broke into Nancy Pelosi’s office on January 6.
A pro-Trump protester in Nancy Pelosi’s office on Capitol Hill, January 6, 2021 (Saul Loeb / AFP)–
This document is a “faux“, however affirmed in an email to AFP the deputy director of the cabinet of Nancy Pelosi, Drew Hammill.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler did not receive such a letter from the Democratic leader in Congress, “neither at the time nor recently“, also told AFP a spokesperson for the city council.
A material element also proves that it is a manipulated image: the signature and the alphanumeric code visible at the foot of the letter already appeared on a letter by Nancy Pelosi from 2007 for sale on Ebay, as highlighted notably by the co-founder of the verification site hoaxbuster.com.
Found by @AudeAlisque, here is the original letter from which our apprentice counterfeiters copied / pasted the graphic elements with an ax (forgetting to remove the certificate of authenticity n ° FF74722 ????)
On sale for $ 175 on Ebay ????https://t.co/IsDFxqlTef pic.twitter.com/wKXJ1KaoRW
— Guillaume Hoaxbuster (@Guillaume_HB) January 11, 2021
This code (FF74722), stamped with a seal, does not appear by default on letters sent by Nancy Pelosi. This is a authentication code issued by a specialized American company, James Spence Authentication (JSA).
“The two documents have the same authentication number, which is not possible“, explained Wednesday, January 13 to AFP James J. Spence III, vice-president of JSA.
“Each signature that we authenticate is assigned a unique alphanumeric code, verifiable on www.JSALOA.com“, he added.
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