Get PolitiFact in your inbox.

Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke December 12, 2022

No, the military didn’t charge Nancy Pelosi with treason and seditious conspiracy

If Your Time is short

  • This claim is false, a spokesperson for the Office of the judge advocate general of the Navy said. 
 

Claiming without evidence that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is a traitor who has been charged with treason and seditious conspiracy does not make it so. And yet, a Dec. 6 Facebook post sharing a video with the description "Nancy Pelosi Traitor" makes that claim.

"JAG charges Nancy Pelosi with treason and seditious conspiracy," reads text in the video, alongside the date Dec. 3 and the URL for a website with a history of publishing fictitious stories. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

RELATED VIDEO
 

We searched for the text and found a story under that headline on Real Raw News, which posts fantastical, false stories and has a disclaimer that the site contains "humor, parody and satire." 

The Dec. 3 story, written by the pseudonymous Michael Baxter, claims that the "United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps on Friday filed formal charges against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was arrested Thursday night."

Featured Fact-check

It also said that Pelosi "was flown to Guantanamo Bay hours after Special Forces apprehended her near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport." 

There’s no evidence to support these claims, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps told PolitiFact it isn’t true that Pelosi has been charged. 

Since her supposed arrest, Pelosi has appeared in public, including Dec. 4 at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.  

On Dec. 8, she held a weekly press conference at the U.S. Capitol, which aired live on Twitter. 

On Dec. 12, she tweeted about "the honor of speaking with hundreds of Capitol employees" and shared footage of those meetings. 

We rate this post Pants on Fire!

 

Our Sources

Facebook post, Dec. 6, 2022

PolitiFact, Hangings, guillotines and Gitmo: Going behind Real Raw News’ sensational (and fabricated) headlines, Sept. 24, 2021

Real Raw News, JAG Charges Nancy Pelosi with Treason, Seditious Conspiracy, Dec. 3, 2022

Nancy Pelosi tweet, Dec. 12, 2022

Nancy Pelosi tweet, Dec. 8, 2022

PolitiFact, No, Paul Pelosi didn’t have mpox, Dec. 8, 2022

Email interview with Devin Arneson, public affairs officer, Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy, Dec. 12, 2022 

 

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Ciara O'Rourke

No, the military didn’t charge Nancy Pelosi with treason and seditious conspiracy

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up