A BuzzFeed investigation found that Snopes’ David Mikkelson has “been lying to the site’s tens of millions of readers.” Snopes, which has served as a Facebook fact-checker, confirmed that Mikkelson published at least 54 plagiarized articles under various bylines.
His fake alter-ego, Jeff Zarronandia, claimed to be a Pulitzer Prize winner and had bylines “on at least 23 Snopes articles on topics like Donald Trump’s financial woes and false rumors about Hillary Clinton.”
Snopes has suspended Mikkelson from editorial duties pending “a comprehensive internal investigation.” But he’s still a company officer and 50 percent shareholder.