Louise Mensch makes bizarre claim that Donald Trump and Steve Bannon are facing the death penalty

Former Conservative MP Louise Mensch claimed on Twitter that her "sources" told her that senior White House adviser Steve Bannon is facing the "death penalty for espionage" and the same may be the case for US President Donald Trump.

Mensch, a former editor of the Murdoch-backed website Heat Street, is prolific on the social media platform, often tweeting conspiracy theories around investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.

She was even thought to be the source of unsubstantiated claims by Trump himself that he was "tapped" by President Obama's officials.

The former MP, who is also a chick-lit novelist, was roundly mocked on social media after writing a story about how the marshal of the Supreme Court had notified Trump that impeachment had begun.

Political commentator Yashar Ali pointed out quite simply: "This is not how it works."

Mensch's tweet, currently pinned to the top of her profile, reads: "My sources say the death penalty, for espionage, being considered for @StevenKBannon. I am pro-life and take no pleasure in reporting this."

In replies to the initial tweet, Mensch wrote: "Bannon coordinated the Russian attack on America since 2010" before adding Trump to the list: "The evidence against @realDonaldTrump is SIGINT. It is recordings audio and visual. It is overwhelming. He may indeed face the death penalty".

Louise Mensch has made a number of bizarre claims before, arguing on the Andrew Neil show in March that her beliefs and should be seen differently from her reporting. She also cited a report of hers from late 2016 about a foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) warrant issued under Obama that was later reported by some mainstream outlets.

In the interview, she also argued with the hosts over a tweet of hers in which said she "absolutely believe[s] that Andrew Breitbart was murdered by Putin. Mensch said this was a belief and therefore should be seen as separate to her reporting.