''National File'' is an American right-wing

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

and

news website An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

created by

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

in August 2019. It is known for publishing false or misleading claims about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Company

''National File'' was founded in August 2019 by far-right figure and

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

. Leaked texts from Jones's phone indicated that he started ''National File'' to promote content from his ''

InfoWars ''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC. Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in stud ...

'' website while obscuring its origin to evade an '' InfoWars'' ban on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

, and to set up a business vehicle for his son Rex. Its editor-in-chief and owner is Tom Pappert. Patrick Howley is a politics reporter for the website.

Content

''National File'' has been described as right-wing, far-right, and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. It is known for publishing

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

misinformation, including false claims that the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

exaggerated the number of COVID-19 fatalities, that

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

was developing an oral drug to be administered "alongside vaccines", and that the

Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine ( INN: tozinameran), sold under the brand name Comirnaty, is an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech. For its development, BioNTech collaborated with Amer ...

caused

neurodegenerative A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

conditions. ''National File'' also publishes misinformation about the 2020 United States presidential election. As of early 2021, ''National File'' is the 10th most followed account on Gab, a social networking service known for its far-right userbase. On January 14, 2020, ''National File'' reiterated a story from trade publication ''Tri-State Livestock News'', wherein South Dakota cattle veterinarian James Stangle falsely claims that Impossible Whoppers contain "44 mg of estrogen" and that "six glasses of

soy milk Soy milk (simplified Chinese: 豆浆; traditional Chinese: 豆漿) also known as soya milk or soymilk, is a plant-based drink produced by soaking and grinding soybeans, boiling the mixture, and filtering out remaining particulates. It is a sta ...

per day has enough estrogen to grow boobs on a male." Stangle later retracted this story as, in fact, he was referring to isoflavones, not

estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal ac ...

; Impossible Whoppers contain 2 mg of isoflavones, not 44; and – – there is no evidence showing a link between isoflavones and feminization or childhood development, and there is evidence to the contrary. On October 7, 2020, Patrick Howley of ''National File'' broke the story that

Cal Cunningham James Calvin "Cal" Cunningham III (born August 6, 1973) is an American lawyer, politician, and retired military officer. A member of the Democratic Party and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve, he served one term as a North ...

, then a democratic candidate in the 2020 Senate election in North Carolina, had exchanged sexually suggestive texts with a woman who was not his wife. On October 23, 2020, ''National File'' published photos they claimed showed Mark Kelly, at the time a candidate in the 2020 special election in Arizona, at a college party in 1985 dressed as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Several classmates of Kelly's stated that he was not the man in the photo, and '' PolitiFact'' rated the ''National File'' story "false". Kelly filed a defamation lawsuit against ''National File'' on October 26. On October 26, 2020, ''National File'' published what it claimed to be the contents of a diary by Ashley Biden, a daughter of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. The diary had been sold to

Project Veritas Project Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe in 2010. The group produces deceptively edited videos of its undercover operations, which use secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media o ...

, a far-right activist group, whose founder said the diary's authenticity could not be confirmed. On February 27, 2022, two days before the Texas Republican primary runoff election, ''National File'' posted audio of an interview with former

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

Tania Joya, a British woman then living in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

, who said that she and

Van Taylor Nicholas Van Campen Taylor (born August 1, 1972), known as Van Taylor,Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997. is an American businessman and Republican politician from Plano, Texas. He is the U.S. representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district, ...

—

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for Plano and primary candidate—had a nine-month sexual affair in 2020 and 2021. Joya shared salacious details about the affair and said that Taylor had given her for personal expenses. Her statements circulated widely on social media, prompting Taylor to admit to an extramarital affair and end his reelection campaign, effectively ceding the primary to Republican runner-up

Keith Self Keith Alan Self (born March 20, 1953) is an American politician and former county judge who is the United States representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education Self was ...

. Taylor was one of the few Republican U.S. representatives to join Democrats in voting to establish the January 6 commission to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol, a vote that caused him to be intensely criticized by primary election opponents and conservative commentators, despite his conservative voting record on other issues.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2019 establishments in the United States Alex Jones American news websites American political blogs COVID-19 misinformation Conspiracist media Internet properties established in 2019 Right-wing populism in the United States