‘Emergency’ Satellite Phones Issued to Senators Fuel Conspiracy Claims

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Reports that U.S lawmakers have been issued satellite phones for emergency communication have been taken out of context to disseminate unsubstantiated “false flag” claims and conspiracy theories on social media.

Safety and security of U.S. government officials and offices has become a focal point for the U.S. public in recent weeks, compounded by the incident involving a U-Haul truck that crashed into security barriers near the White House and the viral AI-generated “Pentagon explosion” hoax.

Amid the alarming headlines and ongoing concerns about security in D.C. following the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, reports about the latest safety measure were quickly pounced on by conspiracy theorist accounts to promote baseless narratives.

Newsweek Misinformation Watch looked at the facts behind the speculation, and found little evidence to suggest some kind of sinister conspiracy was afoot.

U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (C) talks on a phone during a vote on creating a January 6th Committee at the U.S. House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol June 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. A report in May 2023 claiming that Senators had been given special “emergency” satellite phones has fueled “false flag” claims and other misinformation.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

“NOTHING TO SEE HERE. JUST IN – 50 U.S. senators have been issued satellite phones for emergency communication — CBS,” one tweet said, also shared via a screengrab on Reddit.

“Many are worried a cyber attack prior to the 2024 election would be used to justify changes in voting procedures that will benefit Joe Biden. Today we learned that US Senators are being issued special satellite phones for this exact scenario. Not good,” wrote the DC_Draino account, in a post viewed nearly 600,000 times.

“BREAKING: 50 U.S. senators have been issued satellite phones for emergency communication. What are they hiding?” ProudElephant tweeted, gathering 735,000 views.

Others rushed to put forward unevidenced theories about the phones and misleadingly tying it to other recent news stories and resorting to “false flag” claims.

“1) EXPLOSIVES: 60,000 lbs of Ammonium Nitrate a chemical used in explosives just vanishes into thin air

2) ENCRYPTED SAT PHONES:

Now 50 Senators in Wash DC receive encrypted cellular SAT phones in case communications are…” one user wrote, in an apparent reference to a railcar loaded with 30 tons of fertilizer that went missing en route to California in April.

“They just pulled a Nazi Flag from the UHaul that crashed close to the White House. This will all be tied to the missing ammonium nitrate and the Satellite phones. We could be looking at the Mother of all false flags,” another tweet said, directly referencing Monday night’s incident involving the U-Haul truck near the White House.

Some of the claims, also shared on TikTok, Telegram and Reddit, have been picked up and amplified by conservative outlets, including TrendingPolitics and The Gateway Pundit, as well as numerous conspiracy-focused websites.

What We Know

The underlying claim of senators being offered new secure communication capabilities is accurate and was originally reported by CBS News on Sunday, May 21, 2023, though many of the comments failed to reflect some key details from the article.

The key fact missing from the conspiracy claims is that the move does not appear to be in any way sudden or unexpected, but is actually part of the broader and ongoing process of addressing security risks to members of Congress, initiated on the back of the January 6 insurrection—which some fear could happen again.

“The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” the article states.

This point was addressed in more detail by Karen Gibson, sergeant at arms and doorkeeper of the Senate, in her testimony before the Committee on Appropriations.

“Following the events of January 6, 2021, and the ever-evolving threat landscape, enhancing the technical resiliency of the Senate remains a key area of focus,” Gibson said in her statement.

“The CIO oversees the engineering, implementation, and operations for the Senate’s information technology continuity and disaster recovery programs, as well as emergency and secure communications.

“This includes the Senate’s radio infrastructure, communications security, mobile command vehicles, satellite communications, data center continuity, and support for National Security Special Events,” the sergeant at arms said.

The claim that “only 50 senators” received the new gadgets is also misleading, as the report notes all 100 senators were offered the new satellite phone technology, and “at least 50 have accepted” it. It does not offer any explanation as to why some senators apparently chose not to take the devices.

The article also highlights recent developments that may have precipitated a tightening of security in and around the Capitol, including attacks on congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 and on congressman Gerry Connolly’s staffers in May 2023.

Media reports in March 2023 also said that Senate security officials were forced to take extra steps to protect the senators’ privacy after a catering employee at the Capitol was arrested and accused of recording audio of a Republican lunch meeting.

While these incidents, along with the January 2021 riot, may well have increased the urgency for new security measures, there is no evidence that the satellite phones were tied to any specific case—not least the reported disappearance of ammonium nitrate.

Ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer that can also be used as an ingredient in making explosives; it is known to have been used in the homemade bomb detonated in the 1995 attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and, more recently, was the cause of the enormous Beirut port blast.

The railcar carrying 60,000 pounds of the substance went missing while being shipped by rail from Wyoming to California sometime in April, according to media reports.

It was found to be empty on April 26, two weeks after departure and upon arrival at a rail stop in the Mojave Desert. These details are stated in an incident report by explosives company Dyno Nobel, which it sent to the federal National Response Center on May 10, as cited by KQED, a San Francisco radio station.

The company claimed it had “limited control” over the railcar as Union Pacific moved it through the country, adding that the railcar was being transported back to Wyoming for further investigation.

But the social media commentators offered no evidence to link the missing fertilizer to the Capitol security measures, which were already being implemented in March 2023 and will stretch into the 2024 fiscal year, according to Gibson’s testimony.

The conspiracy narratives were also dismissed by former U.S. lawmakers, including Adam Kinzinger:

“Here’s the next one. Senators get sat phones as routine new security measures. The right is acting like it’s in preparation for something…a conspiracy,” the former GOP congressman tweeted.

While there are some historically verified examples of “false flag” events, they are not as widespread as speculation about them may suggest.

Nevertheless, these types of claims have become a hallmark of conspiracy theorist and anti-government online groups, and continue to proliferate in wider conspiracy narratives despite regularly being debunked by fact checkers and in courts.

Newsweek reached out to the United States Senate Periodical Press Gallery and the Department of Homeland Security for comment via email.

Makeshift Gallows Made By Jan. 6 Protestors
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. On that day Donald Trump’s supporters stormed a session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s election win, triggering unprecedented chaos and violence in the U.S. capital. Since then numerous safety measures have been introduced to ramp up security at the Capitol, with the latest move to provide secure phones to Senators fueling online conspiracy theories.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

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