Congressman Paul Gosar said he unwittingly retweeted a so-called clue related to the QAnon conspiracy theory while questioning why the FBI hasn’t investigated what he considers an “illegal coup” against President Donald Trump.
A Twitter account called Majestic 12 tweeted a message early Monday morning with the number 1827, stating, “Big week coming up” and, “See something, say something.” The tweet linked a section on the FBI’s website where people can submit tips.
Gosar retweeted the message to his roughly 13,000 followers later in the day, saying he has a tip that “high level FBI agents may have colluded with British agents and Democrat operatives to initiate an illegal coup against” Trump. He added: “I mean at least this bears a cursory review. Perhaps. Maybe.”
I have a tip. I think high level FBI agents may have colluded with British agents and Democrat operatives to initiate an illegal coup against @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS . I mean at least this bears a cursory review. Perhaps. Maybe. https://t.co/wfIj79T2Gi
— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) August 12, 2019
He said his intent was to sarcastically share the link to the FBI tip line.
The number 1827 refers to a “clue” from QAnon. Will Sommer of the The Daily Beast, who has reported on QAnon, described clue 1827 as a video of the comic book character Deadpool “eating popcorn because he’s excited for Democrats to get arrested.”
The QAnon conspiracy theory holds that a person or people within the U.S. government, known only as Q, is leaving clues on internet forums about a nefarious “deep state” plot against Trump, whom the theory portrays as seeking to root out a cabal of pedophiles and child sex traffickers who hold power at the highest levels of government.
The FBI recently described QAnon as a potential domestic terrorism threat.
Tom Van Flein, Gosar’s chief of staff, said the congressman’s tweet was about the FBI tips website, not QAnon. He said Gosar did not realize that the Majestic 12 tweet was related to the QAnon conspiracy theory, and said the congressman was, in fact, generally unfamiliar with the theory.
“This tweet was about the FBI tip line. Not QAnon,” Van Flein told the Arizona Mirror via text message. “He’s not aware of QAnon and is not retweeting that. It was the link to the FBI tip line.”
Some of you are missing the sarcasm here. Attached is the Mueller report. It starts with a meeting by @GeorgePapa19 and a British spy in London. Yet that remains uninvestigated by the FBI. Hence the tip. https://t.co/EoPvMgZG5w https://t.co/1YGgONzlom
— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) August 12, 2019
Gosar followed up with another tweet saying that some people are “missing the sarcasm here.” He linked to a copy of the Mueller report, pointing out that it begins with 2016 meeting between then-Trump campaign adviser George Papodopoulos and an agent of a foreign government regarding possible assistance that Russia could provide to the campaign.
“We assumed it was some kind of tip. Maybe it’s not. We don’t follow this theory. But we added our tip to the tip line. It was sarcasm since everybody knows mueller (sic) chose to ignore this meeting and the British involvement,” Gosar told the Arizona Mirror via direct message on Twitter.
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