In Lawmaker's Impeachment Tweets, a 'Morbid Acrostic'

Politicians and lawmakers use social media for all kinds of reasons: to inform their constituents, educate the general public, air grievances, and ... post "morbid acrostics"? That's what Politico says GOP Rep. Paul Gosar's Twitter account did Wednesday as it live-tweeted the first public Trump impeachment hearing, though the site doesn't have proof the message spelled out by the first letters of 23 Gosar tweets is more than coincidence: Scroll down the Arizona congressman's feed and it reads "EPSTEIN DIDNT KILL HIMSELF." The Washington Post notes the line is a conspiracy theory-driven one about financier Jeffrey Epstein's suicide that has morphed into a meme, fueled by those who wonder if his death was arranged by shadowy powerful figures who wanted their secrets held by Epstein kept.

President Trump himself has fed into such whispers, telling reporters over the summer "I have no idea" whether the Clintons may have had something to do with Epstein's death, as well as retweeting a conspiracy theory that tried to tie Bill Clinton to it. Gosar isn't confirming or denying the acrostic was intentional (it's hard to believe otherwise), or even that he tweeted it himself, but his pinned tweet as of Thursday morning, which assured everyone that all tweets on his account from Wednesday were about the impeachment hearing, formed another hidden acrostic message: "AREA 51." He also noted on Twitter: "What? Epstein didn't kill himself?" Despite his tongue-in-cheek response, he appeared irritated when former Democratic Rep. Katie Hill took him to task for his message, answering her with a retort that mentioned Hill's own recent troubles, per Fox News. "Relax," he fired back. (More Paul Gosar stories.)