A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official already on leave over comments insulting Islam and spreading conspiracy theories also reportedly shared an image last year saying that “our forefathers would have hung” former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for treason.
Ximena Barreto, a deputy communications director at HHS, was placed on leave last week after Media Matters reported that she had in 2016 promoted the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory and said Islam was a “f—ing cult, not a religion.”
{mosads}On Friday, CNN reported other posts from Barreto, including retweeting in 2017 an image of Obama calling him a “Muslim terrorist,” and tweeting that he is a “pansy and a traitor.”
Barreto also furthered the conspiracy theory that Clinton was behind the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, using the hashtags #KilledByTheDNC, #HillaryBodyCount and #ClintonBodyBags.
Last May, she retweeted a photo of Obama and Clinton with the text “Fact: Our forefathers would have hung these two for treason.”
An HHS spokesperson told The Hill on Friday that “she has been placed on administrative leave while the matter is reviewed.”
The Pizzagate conspiracy theory held that a Washington, D.C., pizzeria was running a sex trafficking ring for high-level Democrats.
“We’ve got to use all of our efforts into Pizzagate and not let that one die because that’s what the mainstream media is trying to get distracted from. So check all the Pizzagate stuff,” Barreto said in a video.