US military did not arrest treasury secretary Jan Yellen, contrary to posts | Fact check
The claim: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was arrested
A Sept. 14 story by Real Raw News claims a top U.S. cabinet official has been taken into custody.
“Investigators from the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on Tuesday arrested Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen at a Maryland hotel,” the story says. “Yellen was shown a military arrest warrant charging her with treason and defrauding the United States of America before being shuttled to a processing center for interrogation.”
The post was shared more than 400 times on Facebook in one week, according to social media analytics tool CrowdTangle.
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Our rating: False
There are no credible reports of Yellen being arrested. She is still listed as the secretary of the U.S. Treasury and has made several public appearances since the date of her purported arrest. The article was published by Real Raw News, which routinely publishes false claims about the arrests of high-profile figures.
No evidence, no credible reports of arrest
Thomas Hamilton, a spokesperson for the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, told USA TODAY the claim was false.
"The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division did not arrest the U.S. secretary of the treasury," he said in an email.
Yellen, in office since 2021, has made multiple public appearances and remarks in the week since the article purports she was arrested.
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No reputable news organizations reported the supposed arrest, and the incident was not mentioned anywhere on the website or social media accounts for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or on the website for the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Real Raw News is a serial spreader of misinformation that often publishes fabricated stories about "white hats" trying to undermine "the deep state" by arresting government officials. USA TODAY has previously debunked numerous other claims about the arrests of high-profile figures stemming from Real Raw News.
USA TODAY reached out to Real Raw News and the Department of the Treasury for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Reuters and PolitiFact also debunked this claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Thomas Hamilton, Sept. 22, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, accessed Sept. 21, Newsroom
Department of the Treasury, accessed Sept. 21, Officials
Department of the Treasury, accessed Sept. 21, Janet Yellen
Department of the Treasury, accessed Sept. 21, Instagram account
Department of the Treasury, accessed Sept. 21, Facebook account
Department of the Treasury, accessed Sept. 21, X account
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 21, Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen at the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment Investor Forum in New York, New York
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 20, Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh, in New York, New York
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 19, Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen in New York, New York on the One-Year Anniversary of the Launch of the Pandemic Fund
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 18, Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on Global Food Security in New York, New York
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 14, Opening Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen at the Second Annual CFIUS Conference
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Janet Yellen was arrested for treason | Fact check
