I'd say that it's rather used as a device for underscoring how important the previous passage was, skimming an article it breaks up the monotonity of recounting

I'd say that it's rather used as a device for underscoring how important the previous passage was, skimming an article it breaks up the monotonity of recounting so that the reader gets a slight pause to reflect on why the break is there and connect it to the obvious lie just presented before.