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Fake news! Blog claims Jeff Flake leaks indictments in Mueller probe
The real news that special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman has fake news peddlers working overtime to try to make a few bucks off the announcement.
One post, from the morning-herald.com, offered this bogus headline: "Jeff Flake’s office leaks names of those charged in Mueller’s Russian probe."
The story keys on another name in the news lately, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. Flake, a Republican, has said he will not run for re-election in 2018. Flake has been critical of Trump.
The post, which was flagged by Facebook as part of its efforts to crack down on fake news, claimed Flake’s office leaked the results of Mueller’s investigation. It’s a fabrication because, among other things, the spokesman the blog quotes does not exist.
"Robert Mueller’s grand jury returned indictments in the 2016 election meddling case against three members of the Clinton Campaign, two members of the Sanders campaign and Paul Manafort from the Trump campaign, who seems to have been working on behalf of the Democrats," the post quotes a made-up Flake spokesman named Art Tubolls. "Nobody in the current administration is under any further investigation."
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Tubolls is the same name used in another piece of fake news describing how President Barack Obama left a threatening letter for Trump when Trump moved into the White House.
Morning-herald.com describes itself as a "web site who allows you to see all events, changes and newest news in the US political life. We will take care that the news we present will be all truth and fast delivered so you can always know first. With love and respect to America your Morning Herald! Everybody should know the truth." In reality, it’s a junk news website that should not be trusted.
This claim rates Pants on Fire!
PolitiFact Rating: 
Our Sources
Morning-herald.com, "Jeff Flake’s office leaks names of those charged in Mueller’s Russian probe," Oct. 30, 2017
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Fake news! Blog claims Jeff Flake leaks indictments in Mueller probe
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