Twitter user @Umpire43 — the guy responsible for the rumor that the Washington Post paid “1000$” for the Judge Roy Moore story, is gone from Twitter:
It’s not clear if he deleted the account himself or if Twitter booted from the platform. This comes after the account mass deleted all of its tweets on Monday:
The Twitter account that launched the hoax that WaPo paid Moore's accusers $1K has now deleted years worth of tweets pic.twitter.com/1qg4zIj9BO
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) November 13, 2017
Here’s the tweet that started it all:
This is the entirety of the evidence for the garbage claim that Gateway Pundit wrote an article about. You know who writes dollar amounts as 1000$? Real Americans. pic.twitter.com/Si1STH1MUn
— Philip Bump (@pbump) November 10, 2017
Moore’s wife, Kayla, even promoted the rumor over on Facebook:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/930114605464129537
The mass deletion and subsequent entire removal of the account occurred after multiple inconsistencies were discovered with @Umpire43’s past tweets, especially those involving his alleged military service:
https://twitter.com/AdamWeinstein/status/929103882902474759
Such as his 2, 3 or 4 Purple Hearts:
The dude attacking my newspaper over the Moore story can't remember how many purple hearts he supposedly has. pic.twitter.com/4iW4FqQR4U
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 10, 2017
The account claimed the multiple Purple Hearts were for his brothers, who allegedly died while in Vietnam. But one of the brothers who had reportedly died also lost both legs and still stood for the national anthem:
Is there a Twitter equivalent of stolen valor?
Over #VeteransDay weekend nonetheless. @umpire43 pic.twitter.com/QvOhtrrDMs
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 11, 2017
Ah it turns out there’s a credible explanation: the extra Purple Hearts belonged to his brother Richard, KIA in Vietnam but since reanimated to stand for the anthem. pic.twitter.com/OksxMflhCo
— Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) November 11, 2017
The account also claimed he was a Navy SEAL who served on aircraft carriers, but that story fell apart, too:
https://twitter.com/vamp_vixxenx/status/929259385137721346
Other inconsistencies:
Billie, FYI, @umpire43 is not legit. Fabricated background, including military service. Don't take my word, do your own research. I'm sure you agree that stealing the ID of a dead soldier is never ok. God Bless America. pic.twitter.com/xUycWchTHj
— Jeff Stanlis (@jstanlis) November 13, 2017
And his West Point son became a Navy SEAL:
Now, look back at that tweet about his kids, and see if you can pick out the one who would have been 28 years old and a Navy Seal a month earlier. By the way, his 4 YOUNGEST were at West Point, and obviously that's Army, not Navy. pic.twitter.com/cFgzmLjKEP
— James (@15c3PO) November 14, 2017
Game over and good riddance.
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