URGENT: Please help me confirm this apparent crazy shit Trump did

[angka]

Let me explain exactly how I found this so there's no confusion: the first version of this photo I saw depicted AG William Barr on the left. I right-clicked and searched Google for the image to find a higher res version. That's when I found the EXACT SAME photo, credited to the DoD in May of 2018, featuring John Bolton exactly where Barr was. It took just a moment to realize that the other three in the photo are identical down to the facial expression and clothes.

"Holy crap, they Photoshopped Bolton out," I said.

So here's what I need from GD: please help me research when the second photo with Barr first appeared in circulation, and ideally a hosted copy of the photo in an identifiable location. I want to be as sure as I can be that the Trump administration actually edited John Bolton out of a photo Josef Stalin style before I start calling reporters.

Thanks for your help! Please comment right here with anything you find.

UPDATE: Per request, here are the two still pics.


With Bolton, DoD photo May 2018


With Barr, unknown edit date

[ramblin_dave]

1. Can you post links to the two photographs?

[angka]

4. Done.

Post updated. Thanks!

[dewsgirl]

2. Just like the time they tried to photo shop Pence out of

the photo with Igor and Lev.

[Brother Buzz]

17. That wasn't a photoshop, but rather, a convenient photo cropping

[citizen blues]

20. I completely agree.

They then squeezed Barr into Bolton's space without bothering to keep the pic proportional.

[Brother Buzz]

21. I was thinking of this one

This is the one that circulated widely



Then this one popped up

[global1]

3. WoW!!!!! ...nt

[renate]

5. WOW! What a catch!

[Ms. Toad]

6. I don't believe Trump did this.

The earliest I can find it is 10/4, and all instances are twitter/Imjur - some appear to be posted by progressives.

https://imgur.com/gallery/flR22uB

So I don't think it was Trump.

[angka]

7. That's the same Tweet where I found the original image.

The author of that Tweet is a former Weekly Standard employee (conservative), and that's as far as I got trying to track it down as well. There's no metadata in the image to indicate the origin but I think Twitter strips metadata.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'm still trying to run it down.

[blogslut]

11. You first saw this in a tweet from a Weekly Standard employee?

Can you name the employee or Twitter account?

Nevermind. Found it.

Link to tweet

?lang=en

[angka]

12. That's the one.

[blogslut]

15. Very possible Swift shopped it himself to make a joke.

Last edited Tue Oct 22, 2019, 10:01 PM - Edit history (1)

The Bulwark is Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes' website and they're both never-trumpers. I mean, it's a decent photoshop but not great. Something someone with a job in media could probably whip up on their own. The tweet went fairly viral so there's that.

Ah, looks like it was a joke and Swift fell for it

Link to tweet

[Rstrstx]

8. They smoothed out the highlights a little too

Maybe to give them a less harsh look under the lights or to better match the lighting from wherever Barr's picture came (bonus points if you can find the picture Barr was lifted from). Also, what's up with that vertical streak between Trump and Pompeo in the altered pic? It spoils what is kind of a decent Photoshop job. Barr looks like he just ate John Bolton and scooted right in, couldn't be more pleased with himself.

This sort of reminds me of the Meredith McIver fiasco wayyyyy back during the convention.

[jberryhill]

9. Use tineye.com

[ramblin_dave]

10. Some results

Both links you provided reference progressnowcolorado.org with pics called barrshop.png and the other boltonshop.png - so I wonder if shop refers to photoshop in some way. Also, why are both of these on the same site?

Ones with Barr...(note https removed)
://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.progressnowcolorado.org/images/barrshop.png (your link)
://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/5/1890440/-Barr-Pompeo-and-Giuliani-They-ve-gone-where-subpoenas-can-lacerate-their-hearts-no-more
://god.dailydot.com/tag/mike-pompeo/
://twitter.com/DearAuntCrabby/status/1180479085417553927
://twitter.com/wgblackmonall/status/1180912080641232897

Ones with Bolton...
://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.progressnowcolorado.org/images/boltonshop.png (your link)
://www.fitsnews.com/2019/09/10/donald-trump-fires-warmonger-john-bolton/
://tcf.org/content/report/making-unmaking-syria-strategy-trump/
://mondoweiss.net/2019/01/secretary-following-elections/

The Bolton ones are oldest. Who put in Barr and why? Not necessarily the White House.

[angka]

13. Those are copies of the originals that I resized for the .gif above.

[StrictlyRockers]

14. Watermark? A clue!

Is this a watermark?

Link to tweet

[JoeOtterbein]

16. Great call!

[StrictlyRockers]

18. Jim Swift @JimSwiftDC made this photoshop as a joke, NOT the White House.

Jim Swift @JimSwiftDC made this photoshop as a joke, NOT the White House.

Link to tweet

[angka]

22. That's the Tweet, but the photo's origin isn't confirmed.

You could be right of course, that's why I've been trying to figure it out conclusively. I personally have never represented this photo as for sure coming from the WH.

[citizen blues]

19. Barr seems to be out of proportion

Bolton is quite a bit shorter than Barr, and Bolton's a lot shorter than Trump. The picture with Bolton is accurately proportioned. The picture with Barr is not.

While Barr carries some extra weight, he's not nearly as portly as he appears in this picture. Additionally, compare where his head is aligned with objects in the background, it matches very closely to where Bolton's head is. This is not an accurate depiction of Barr. When you look at other pictures of Barr walking with or standing next to Trump at a podium, it is clear that Barr is close to being as tall as Trump. In this picture, he is not.

Given how out of proportion Barr is in this picture with being shorter and wider, this is actually a pretty sloppy cut & paste.