JOSH Duggar is NOT dead despite rumors he had passed after his arrest on child pornography charges, The Sun can confirm, as his family slams "keyboard warriors."
On Thursday, Twitter was awash with rumors the disgraced former reality star had died - after a website published a fake obituary on July 7.
It read: "Unconfirmed posts from various social media platforms indicate that former American reality TV personality Joshua James Duggar, known as Josh Duggar, is believed to have died."
Many reposted the news on the social media platform, with one writing: "Josh Duggar Dead? Social Media Post Leaves Users Confused, Hopeful."
A third confusing tweet added: "We're pained as we learnt on July, 7th, 2021, that Josh Duggar has died. Like every death, the coming to an end of the Josh Duggar life has sent..."
After being approached by The Sun for comment, Josh's lawyer, Travis W. Story, said: "Thanks for your concern; I have communicated with my client this afternoon since your inquiry, and there is no truth to that rumor."
Washington County and Benton County coroner's offices confirmed to The Sun they do not have Josh Duggar’s body.
Washington County Sheriff's Office also confirmed no 911 calls have been made from The Reber's home in Arkansas - where Josh is staying with family friends Lacount and Maria Reber following his release on bail.
KEYBOARD WARRIORS
A Duggar source told The Sun: "Many of the family are trying to stay away from what is written about Josh at the minute, especially from looking at Twitter comments since his arrest.
"And despite public opinion of him right now, it's very upsetting to hear keyboard warriors are making up these rumors and causing more stress for them at such an awful time."
Meanwhile, Josh, a father of six, is demanding to see the government’s evidence in his child pornography case and has hit out at the police’s "credibility."
In court papers exclusively obtained by The Sun, Josh’s legal team filed a Motion to Compel requesting the government provide them with "an undated screen shot" and "all law enforcement reports and related discovery prepared by the Little Rock."
The document read: "The Government disclosed to the defense a screen shot. However, the screen shot does not identify what it is a screen shot of and the Government has not provided any information concerning the 'Summary' or 'Investigative Activity.'"
Josh's team has "repeatedly attempted to obtain this unambiguously discoverable evidence," but the Government has “refused to produce this evidence."
They claim the government is also refusing to disclose to them police reports and related evidence from the Little Rock, Arkansas police department.
DISGRACED REALITY STAR
The court papers read: "Government has responded to these discovery requests in a way that strongly suggests the discovery exists but the prosecution simply refuses to turn it over."
Josh's team claims he is "legally and constitutionally entitled to" the evidence, but "the government has flat-out refused to produce it."
They believe Josh's computer forensics expert should have access to the data.
The 19 Kids and Counting star's attorney then took aim at authorities, including Special Agent Faulkner, who spoke at Josh's detention hearing.
The court papers claimed he omitted the "alleged investigative activities of two other law enforcement agencies” when testifying at the hearing under oath.
They believe the evidence shouldn’t be allowed and they question his “credibility.”
As The Sun reported, Josh pleaded not guilty to the two child pornography counts after his arrest in April.
He went on to request the court postpone his July trial date "in or after February 2022."
Josh's legal team called the case "complex," as it involved a "several-year federal investigation" with allegations of the "dark web" and "peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks," both of which are common in the receiving of child pornography.
The Government’s allegations against Jim Bob and Michelle’s son center around “computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony.”
Most read in Celebrity
The court papers claimed the defense has "retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue—a time-consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleges contained child pornography."
The United States responded by agreeing to a three-month delay, but they explained anything additional is "unnecessary."
Read More on The US Sun
An Arkansas judge found the postponement "appropriate" and reset the jury trial for November 30, 2021.
According to court papers, the trial has the potential to last until December 3 this year.
Josh Duggar and wife Anna 'once preached about God to female prisoners'ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEZqqupl6YvK57xKernqqklravucSnq2hrY2yEeYCYaKGoq5hisbazxpqpZpyVlrFuvtSmpqurXZi1qrjDZqeoqp6ktLOtz6GwaA%3D%3D