A FAKE Parler post claimed Donald Trump had invoked a 200-year-old act to deploy the military and remain in power.
The outrageous claim -from an account called @TeamTrumpNews -was written as if it was coming from the President himself.
The social media post came amid fears invoking the 25th Amendment could "cause a huge uprising" sparking "armed protests", according to information obtained by the FBI.
The post stated: “I have invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807, to address the treasonous rebellion conducted by Democrat & Republican lawmakers, CCP agents, the FBI, DOJ, CIA & others to undermine, corrode and dismantle the United States of America and its constitution.
"These entities pose a direct threat to national security. I will remain president indefinitely until all domestic enemies are arrested.”
However, just a little bit of digging reveals the bizarre post's claims appear to be completely bogus.
The controversial Parler platform is currently suspended but the screenshot of the fake "Team Trump" post has subsequently been shared widely on other social networks.
'EGREGIOUS CONTENT'
Google recently suspended Parler- which describes itself as the "world's premier free speech platform" -from its Play Store over its failure to remove "egregious content".
The @TeamTrumpNews account does not appear to be an authentic account from the president, and the claims about invoking the Insurrection Act show a misunderstanding of the law.
There has also not been any official confirmation from the White House or military that what was posted has actually happened, reports Reuters.
There has been speculation about an official Donald Trump account being set up on Parler after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others but that has not happened.
The official Trump campaign has had a Parler account since December 2018 however, this posts under the handle @TeamTrump and not @TeamTrumpNews .
Many conservatives and right-leaning pundits have found homes on the platform including Senator Ted Cruz, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, according to Fast Company.
Both Eric and Donald Trump Jr. also have accounts on the site.
The bogus post's claim about the current president employing the Insurrection Act is also false.
There has been no confirmation from any official sources, including the relevant state departments, lawmakers, the military or the White House itself.
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the U.S. president to deploy the military to suppress domestic insurrection.
As an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act 1878, which prohibits military forces being used for domestic law enforcement, the 1807 act has been used in the past to quell civil unrest.
The last time was in 1992 when the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King led to deadly riots.
In late December, the president’s former security adviser Michael Flynn suggested the act could also be employed to help overturn the election but this was swiftly knocked back.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said in a joint statement: “There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.”
'UNCONSTITUTIONAL'
Trump senior legal adviser Jenna Ellis also rejected the idea – suggesting it would be unconstitutional.
She wrote on Twitter: “I haven’t seen calls for martial law or the Insurrection Act with understanding and coherent, constitutional arguments.
"No one is considering how they’d react if a Democrat incumbent decided to use the military to force an outcome they believed to be justified. Precedent matters.”
And Just Security, an outlet based out of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, said the invoking of the act to interfere with the election would be in violation of numerous federal laws.
Last night we reported how a mystery was sparked when the State Department's official website said Donald Trump's term had "ended".
The information, which could be part of a potential hack of the website, was available on the outgoing president's biography page.
t is unclear whether the update was intentional or was an accident, as the website stated that his term finished at 7.49pm on Monday evening.
However, text on the same page also states that Trump is still in office at "present."
The page was later updated with an error message saying "the site is currently experiencing technical difficulties."
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