Fox host airs manipulated photo of Trump warrant judge

"Ghislaine Maxwell and Judge Bruce Reinhart... looking cozy!" says an August 10, 2022 tweet among those that circulated on the platform.

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Screenshot of a tweet taken August 12, 2022

In the days following the FBI search of Trump’s residence in Florida, hundreds of social media users on Facebook and Twitter shared the photo of Reinhart.

A reverse image search found the original photo of Maxwell was released as court evidence during her 2021 trial and shows her rubbing the feet of the disgraced Epstein.

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Ghislaine Maxwell giving Jeffery Epstein a foot rub ( US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York / )

The photo of Reinhart that was used to misleadingly overlay the original image, is from 2017 and was sourced from his personal Facebook account.

The manipulated version shared on social media has Reinhart's head superimposed over Epstein.

On August 11, 2022, the doctored image was shared by Brian Kilmeade, who was guest hosting Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, further perpetuating the claim.

In a televised exchange, fellow Fox host Sean Hannity suggested the photo might have been a manipulated image of Epstein, and Kilmeade responded: "It might be his plane, who knows?", a likely reference to the late Epstein's Boeing 727 private jet. The clip of Kilmeade and Hannity was also shared online, during which the former made no attempt to say if the image was altered.

In a response to AFP following publication of this article, and after an online backlash about use of the manipulated image, a publicist for Fox News Media said Kilmeade had tweeted about the incident.

"Last night while subbing for Tucker Carlson, we showed you an image of Judge Bruce Reinhart w/ Ghislaine Maxwell that was sourced on screen to a meme pulled from Twitter & wasn’t real. This depiction never took place & we wanted to make clear that we were showing a meme in jest," Kilmeade wrote.

The activity on social platforms accompanied outrage from Trump supporters about the FBI search.

Under the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are required to be preserved and turned over to the National Archives. The Mar-a-Lago investigation is reportedly focused on any classified records from the White House that Trump may have taken.

Reinhart previously worked as a federal prosecutor and later, as a defense attorney, he represented some employees of Jeffrey Epstein, Politico reported.

Epstein's death has led to several conspiracy theories, including claims amplified by former president Trump, that he was assassinated on the orders of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

AFP Fact Check has debunked other posts attempting to link Epstein to high profile figures such as President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Fox News host Chris Wallace.