Conspiracy

A tidal wave of conspiracy theories hit social media as soon as news broke that shots were fired at the Washington Hilton hotel during the White House Correspondents' dinner Saturday. That was to be expected, but some say the dynamics are shifting, with theories coming from liberals and progressives as well as right-wing accounts that are critical of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Neither political party is immune to conspiracies in a time of intense distrust in government and media, experts say After an armed man attempted to breach the ballroom where Donald Trump was set to speak to White House journalists on Saturday, conspiracies immediately spread about whether the event was staged.The rhetoric has become a common refrain from both sides of the aisle in an era of deeply fractured politics and intense distrust in political institutions and media, and in the president himself. Continue reading...

• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard intensified accusations that former President Barack Obama and top administration officials—including former FBI Director James Comey, DNI James Clapper, and CIA Director John Brennan—conspired to subvert Trump's 2016 election victory. • Gabbard claimed to have unveiled new evidence of a plot to undermine the democratic will of the American people through intelligence community actions. • The allegations signal continued politicization of intelligence agencies and ongoing disputes over 2016 election interference investigations.

Claim of nefarious plot draws attention of lawmakers and president – but are disappearances and deaths really linked?Are the disappearances or deaths of at least 11 US scientists, each allegedly connected in some way to space, defense and nuclear research, really linked in a nefarious plot: one that involves the Chinese or other state enemies, or possibly links back to UFOs?A conspiracy theory positing exactly that has roared through sections of the US population in recent weeks, spreading rapidly from the internet into rightwing media and hence into the mainstream press and prompting an inquiry from Congress and questions from Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Trump ally grilled by lawmakers over ‘terrible decisions’ on vaccines, public health and funding cuts to key programsUS politics – latest updatesVaccines and public health dominated a frequently contentious hearing with Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday before the US House ways and means committee.Kennedy, the controversial health secretary and a longtime vaccine opponent, has overseen sweeping changes to routine vaccination recommendations and has promoted misinformation even amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades. Continue reading...

Joel Gilbert, who mailed anti-Barack Obama film to voters in 2012, accuses congressman of violating immigration lawSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxCalifornia Democrat Eric Swalwell’s troubles deepened on Sunday as the US Department of Homeland Security announced an investigation into allegations the US representative hired “a Brazilian national as a nanny without lawful work authorization”.Swalwell has been facing a raft of calls to end his campaign for California governor and resign his seat in Congress since Friday, when the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported that four women have accused him of sexual misconduct and assault. Continue reading...

Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop-zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connectionsWhen a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation.Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections. Continue reading...

Nicole Daedone, co-founder of OneTaste Inc, also ordered to forfeit $12m, and seven victims were awarded restitutionThe leader of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted “orgasmic meditation” was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for a scheme that a judge said exploited vulnerable women and coerced them into performing sex acts with the company’s clients and investors.Nicole Daedone, co-founder of OneTaste Inc, was also ordered to forfeit $12m, and seven victims were awarded roughly $890,000 in restitution, federal prosecutors said. Continue reading...

National intelligence director said voting machine seizure was requested by US attorney in Puerto Rico – who’s been trying to revive 2020 election conspiracy theoryWhen the US director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, testified on Thursday that her office seized voting machines from Puerto Rico, she said it was at the request of the office of the US attorney in Puerto Rico. Left unsaid was that the prosecutor, as the Guardian previously reported, has been the center of a push by Donald Trump supporters to revive a long discredited conspiracy theory purporting to link Venezuela to Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat.Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the conspiracy theory maintains, controlled electronic voting machines worldwide and remotely manipulated results in 2020 to deprive Trump of a presidential victory. Continue reading...

The right to protest is ‘fundamentally American’, says Bajun Mavalwalla who awaits trial and faces six years in prisonThis story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer CenterA US military veteran arrested on federal conspiracy charges after participating in a June 2025 protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Guardian he refuses to plead guilty and is ready to face justice. Continue reading...