[dkersten]

> is there a single known instance of the US government ever doing such a thing?

Not that I’m aware of, but they’ve done a lot worse in the past (arming opposition to democratically elected governments, then turning against them later; drugging people without their consent or knowledge; etc) so its not particularly crazy to think that they’re willing or capable to do such things.

[meowface]

I completely agree. I just think the other repliers aren't assigning the probabilities correctly. Also, separately from the incentive and capability issue, there's the fact that people seem comfortable casting suspicion without any evidence or other empirical basis, while lazily including misinformation like "convenient that this happens so often, huh" despite not mentioning a single other case of it happening (leaker charged with possessing child pornography).