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Fox News shows fake photo of judge who signed Mar-a-Lago warrant with Ghislaine Maxwell

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade shared a fake image on Thursday, Aug. 11, of U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart receiving a foot massage from convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Reinhart, who signed a warrant that led to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, has been scrutinized by Trump supporters since the Aug. 8 raid at Mar-a-Lago.

“So a picture of Bruce Reinhart. This is the judge in charge of the... warrant. We’ll see if he’ll release it next. He likes Oreos and whiskey,” said Kilmeade, who was filling in as host on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

The photo that appeared on the broadcast is doctored, with the real image featuring Jeffrey Epstein instead of Reinhart, Snopes reported. Epstein, who was arrested on sex trafficking charges following a year-long Miami Herald investigation, died by suicide on Aug. 10, 2018.

Maxwell received a 20-year sentence in prison for her role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.

The picture of Reinhart used in the altered photo is one that came from his personal Facebook page. The fake photograph was first shared on social media in the days that followed the Mar-a-Lago raid, according to Snopes.

Kilmeade has been slammed on social media for sharing the fake photograph, which he later clarified on social media.

“This is pure trash, @kilmeade,” Tennessee State Rep. Gloria Johnson said in a Twitter post. “You are a liar and a (clown).”

“@Kilmeade should be fired — or at the least suspended. Along with whatever staff member ‘found’ the photo,” former U.S. Rep Denver Riggleman said. “Should be followed by a public apology. Despicable stuff.”

Sean Hannity, who appeared on the Fox News broadcast, also suggested the image was fake.

“I think that’s actually a picture of Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting his head on there,” Hannity said.

Friday afternoon, Kilmeade backtracked and said the photo was shown “in jest.”

“Last night while subbing for Tucker Carlson, we showed you an image of Judge Bruce Reinhart w/ Ghislaine Maxwell that was sourced on screen to a meme pulled from Twitter & wasn’t real,” he said in a tweet. “This depiction never took place & we wanted to make clear that we were showing a meme in jest.”

Reinhart has faced scrutiny for his previous work as a defense attorney, in which he represented clients who were connected to Epstein.

He has reportedly been receiving threats since signing off on the FBI warrant, according to USA Today.