Suspicions Grow Over True Identity Of Anti-Islam Filmmaker "Sam Bacile"

While many news outlets quickly corrected initial reports to point out that crackpot Florida Pastor Terry Jones "only" had a hand in promoting the anti-Islam film now inciting violence across the Middle East, the man that many publications then named as film's producer does not exist.

The mysterious “Sam Bacile” supposedly spoke to The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and The Times of Israel, claiming to be a California real estate developer and an Israeli Jew who raised $5 million for the film from 100 other nameless Jewish donors. However, since those stories were published, several cracks in that description have emerged, and now reporters are wondering whether he even exists at all. The WSJ reported that he’s 52, but the AP placed his age at 56. Raw Story‘s own inquiries could not find a ”Sam Bacile” linked to any California court filing, which would be highly unusual for a real estate developer. He’s also missing from U.S. genealogy databases and the major social media networks. And yet another wrinkle: Speaking on condition of anonymity, Israeli officials told the AP that they have no record of anyone by that name.

Another man quoted by the Associated Press as a consultant on the film has confessed that "Sam Bacile" does not exist.

“I don’t know that much about him,” he reportedly said. “I met him, I spoke to him for an hour. He’s not Israeli, no. I can tell you this for sure, the State of Israel is not involved, Terry Jones is not involved. His name is a pseudonym. All these Middle Eastern folks I work with have pseudonyms. I doubt he’s Jewish. I would suspect this is a disinformation campaign.”

Commenters on the above-linked site and many others are now speculating as to whether the entire debacle was staged to damage the Obama campaign. (Tipped by JMG reader David)