(CNN) – A senior adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development spread a false conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman took part in a Satanic ritual, a CNN KFile review of his tweets show.
John Gibbs is a former conservative commentator who initially joined the HUD as the director for Strong Cities and Strong Communities, a program aimed at spurring economic development at the local level.
In August of 2017, Gibbs, a political appointee, transitioned to the role of senior adviser, working in the office of the assistant secretary for community planning and development. In his current role, Gibbs is tasked with developing and implementing efforts aimed at increasing economic development programs for low-income people.
On Twitter, Gibbs made multiple references to a conspiracy theory started by far-right bloggers claiming Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta took part in a Satanic ritual. Tweets from Gibbs, archived on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, show him promoting the conspiracy four times between October 31 and November 5 of 2016, using the hashtag #SpiritCooking. The hashtag originated from an email of Podesta’s released by WikiLeaks, which members of the far-right claimed, without evidence, that Podesta was involved in a Satanic ritual that involved bodily fluids.
The claim has repeatedly been debunked.
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A senior adviser at HUD spread a false conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign chairman took part in a Satanic ritual, a CNN KFile review finds https://t.co/K5HyCfOlq9 pic.twitter.com/rsSdzI4h4I
— CNN (@CNN) March 8, 2018
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