Story about Gretchen Whitmer drug bust was fabricated

The discovery of cocaine, pornography and evidence of child trafficking found in any elected official’s vehicle would draw, at the least, local media attention. But finding such a cache in the car of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer? Widespread, national news coverage. 

And yet, no such headlines exist beyond one that originated on a website that publishes fabricated stories. 

"Cocaine, porn, evidence of child trafficking found in Whitmer’s car," reads a June 1 headline shared in a recent TikTok post. 

The byline visible in the post — Michael Baxter — is a pseudonym for the author of the site Real Raw News, which has recently run unfounded stories claiming Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky was hanged, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was executed, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was executed. Its "About Us" page features a disclaimer saying the site contains "humor, parody and satire."

The story about Whitmer cites an anonymous source and alleges that U.S. Marines "forensically examined" her vehicle and found "pornography, illegal narcotics and an iPad holding a ledger of names and ages of children who appear on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s private database."

The story goes on to claim that the Marines arrested Whitmer. 

The U.S. Marine Corps did not immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about these claims. 

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stated on October 17, 2020 in a Facebook post

In the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, “the perps were ANTIFA and BLM anarchists.”

However, there are no credible news reports or press releases about such an arrest. No criminal charges appear against Whitmer in PACER, a database of federal court records. And the governor appears to be living her life unaffected by the supposed political and legal scandal described by Real Raw News. 

On June 7, she signed legislation aimed at reducing distracted driving, and on June 9, she welcomed singer Taylor Swift to Michigan, where Swift is performing over the weekend. 

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