CIA: Director Haspel 'Is Alive and Well'

Social media users have been sharing content online that claims Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gina Haspel was arrested, injured, or found dead. These claims, likely stemming from QAnon conspiracy theorists, are false.

CIA spokesperson Nicole de Haay told Reuters via email: "Well . . . this is the most absurd inquiry I've ever addressed, but I’m happy to tell you that Director Haspel is alive and well and at the office."

The screenshot of an article dated Nov. 29, 2020 in this post, claims Haspel was arrested after she was injured in Frankfurt, Germany, during a CIA raid to secure "the servers."

The article explains five special forces troops and a CIA official were killed in the raid and Haspel was flown to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (GITMO) where she was treated and "received a tribunal for treason."

The claim adds Haspel "agreed to help Trump for a lighter sentence of life which can be revoked if she chooses not to cooperate." The article includes grammar and spelling errors, misspelling Haspel's name as "Hasple."

The claim seems to stem from a conspiracy theory about the United States military seizing election servers from electronic voting company Scytl in Germany. Reuters Fact Check previously debunked this claim.

Scytl said in a statement the U.S. army had not seized anything from them, and they do not have offices in Germany.

The claims Haspel was arrested and injured in a CIA raid or that she was found dead are false. The posts on social media present no source or evidence for their claims. The raid of the building where these posts claim she was arrested or injured did not take place.

It is unclear where this screenshot or claim originated, but its activity online appears to come primarily from groups and boards filled with QAnon content.

One screenshot was posted by Rumor Mill News on Nov. 30. Reuters found a similar screenshot posted on a QAnon website the same day, it is visible in this 8kun file. 8kun, formerly 8chan, is a fringe messaging board increasingly popular with QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Another post visible, shows a screenshot of a tweet that claims Haspel was found dead from "natural causes" and this is "going viral in gov circles but there is currently a strict news blackout."

This post comes from a now-suspended account and was also posted on the Qanon site viewed by Reuters, and visible in another 8kun file.

Verdict

False. There is no evidence to show CIA Director Gina Haspel was arrested or injured in a CIA raid in Germany or found dead. The raid itself has been debunked.