Right-wing hucksters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman pulled a fast one on the Washington Post.
The two con men placed ads on Craigslist looking for white male actors who could play the role of federal agents, according to the Daily Beast. The ad, which offered actors $400 for the job, filmed a scene acting out an FBI raid on Burkman’s home in Arlington, Virginia, during the early morning on Monday. One of the actors involved in the incident, Tommy Abraham, confirmed to the outlet that the agents were actually paid actors.
The story of the apparent FBI raid spread on social media, which quickly garnered attention, and the Washington Post published a story about it. The headline for the piece, which has since been changed, was “FBI raids home of conservative conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman.” The report has since been updated to clarify that Burkman “claimed” the FBI raided his home, and it has two post-publication notes to clarify what happened after its initial publication.
In the outlet’s original coverage of the fake raid, the first line of the article said that “agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided” Burkman’s home. The updated piece said Burkman “claimed that FBI agents raided his home.”
An editor’s note that was later added said there was “additional reporting indicating that the raid likely was staged,” and the other note that was tacked on said the story was “updated to clarify that Burkman claimed his home was raided but a law enforcement official said there was no law enforcement activity at the house.”
The reporter who wrote the story deleted a tweet about it and posted another that claimed Wohl and Burkman could have faked the whole incident.
“The FBI Washington Field Office was not present at the specified location for law enforcement activity,” Samantha T. Shero, a public affairs officer for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, told the Washington Examiner.
Wohl and Burkman have a history of trying to bamboozle opponents with wild and unsubstantiated claims. Some who have been targeted by the duo include former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former special counsel Robert Mueller, and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
