'No truth' to report top CDC official sentenced to prison at Guantanamo Bay | Fact check
The claim: A top CDC official was sentenced to prison at Guantanamo Bay
A July 23 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows several slides with text claiming that a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a long prison sentence that will be served at Guantanamo Bay.
“JAG Convicts CDC's Dr. Howard Zucker to Life in Prison At GITMO 07/22/23” reads the caption of the nearly 10-minute video.
The post was shared more than 1,400 times in four days.
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Our rating: False
The CDC says the claim is false and that Dr. Howard Zucker, the organization's deputy director for global health, is still doing his job. The original claim was made by a website that routinely publishes false claims about the pandemic and high-profile government figures.
CDC says 'no truth' to report , Zucker still working
CDC spokesperson Scott Pauley said there is “no truth” to the report and Zucker continues to show up for work daily as the agency’s deputy director for global health.
Fact check: No, thousands of doctors weren't indicted for pandemic-related crimes
The video consists almost entirely of a series of title cards that display the text of a July 20 story from the website Real Raw News, which routinely publishes false stories and conspiracy theories.
The Real Raw News “About Us” page includes a disclaimer that it “contains humor, parody and satire,” but there is no similar notice found on the video or on individual stories on the website, including this one.
The story in question claims that Marines arrested Zucker in May on charges of blackmail, extortion and treason for attempting to enforce COVID-19-related lockdowns. It asserts that Rear Admiral Jonathan T. Stephens prosecuted Zucker and accepted a supposed plea deal on July 17 that would send him to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years, a period of time the 63-year-old Zucker supposedly equated to a life sentence.
Zucker oversaw the COVID-19 response in New York as that state’s health commissioner before resigning in 2021. He was hired by the CDC in January.
Stephens is the Navy’s lead special trial counsel, but there is no record of Zucker’s supposed conviction or sentence anywhere on the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps' website or its social media accounts.
USA TODAY has previously debunked fabricated stories about the pandemic from Real Raw News, including false claims that children's COVID-19 vaccines contain scopolamine and that Russia destroyed all of its COVID-19 vaccines.
USA TODAY reached out to both the user who shared the post and to Real Raw News, but did not immediately receive responses.
Our fact-check sources:
Scott Pauley, July 26, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Navy JAG Corps, accessed July 27, News
Navy JAG Corps, accessed July 27, Facebook profile
Navy JAG Corps, accessed July 27, Instagram profile
Navy JAG Corps, accessed July 27, Twitter profile
CDC, Feb. 21, Deputy Director for Global Health
Navy, March 15, Rear Admiral Jonathan T. Stephens
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim top CDC official was sentenced to prison | Fact check