At least three Facebook posts are claiming that Harvey Specter and Mike Ross have been assigned as former president Rodrigo Duterte’s defense attorneys in his crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is fake.
Specter and Ross are fictional characters in a hit American legal drama television series. They are played by actors Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams, respectively.
One of the posts published on May 9 has a caption that says:
“Siguradong acquitted si Tatay niyan 👊🏿💚 (That guarantees [Duterte’s] acquittal)
Sometimes good guys gotta do bad things to make the bad guys pay. – Atty. Harvey”
The graphic card contains a photo of Specter and Ross standing side-by-side, with the logo of Sonshine Media Network, Inc. and the date, May 9, 3036. There was also a text in the photo saying:
“Harvey Specter at Mike Ross, itinalaga ng ICC bilang mga defense attorneys ni FRRD
(Harvey Specter and Mike Ross were assigned by ICC as defense attorneys for FRRD).”
Two separate FB posts used the same graphic card within a few hours of each other on May 9.
Both carried the same fake statement and caption.
On May 12, the unredacted version of former defense lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman’s notice of withdrawal showed international criminal and humanitarian law expert Peter Haynes as his replacement.
Duterte formally signed on May 13 Haynes’ appointment, which the latter accepted on the same day. On May 15, the ICC Registry formalized the British lawyer’s appointment as Duterte’s new defense counsel.
The false posts surfaced after Kaufman filed his notice of withdrawal as Duterte’s counsel on May 8. Haynes’ identity was initially redacted in Kaufman’s filing.
The post published in a public Facebook group called House of Representa-thieves: Batasang Pambulsa with 151,400 members has garnered 30,872 reactions, 298 comments, and 3,300 shares. Meanwhile, copies posted by the page Pinoy Vlog and a Facebook user have garnered seven reactions, two comments, and seven shares.
