A version of this, tweeted by actress Mia Farrow, came across my social media feed today. Here is the original source of the claim:

The intent is conspiracy theory ideation about a politician (the target could be any politician of any political party). Obviously, there is an element of corruption underway to achieve this financial gain. This tweet was amplified by many people in the professional news media, by entertainers and by many political enthusiasts.

This works as propaganda through the use of “What you see is all there is”, leading the target to draw a conclusion based only on this information.

The Washington Post did a fact check on this and the reason, which has always been publicly available, is that his mother-in-law died in 2007 and left his family a very large inheritance. Bloomberg’s political reporter also pointed this out.

Many people retweeted the original false conspiracy theory, including numerous journalists, thereby making fools of themselves.

Once name-brand “known celebrities” (many journalists are now primarily entertainment celebrities) resend and amplify this message, the propaganda takes on an “Appeal to Authority” level of support.

Mia Farrow is estimated to have a net worth of $70 million.