Did the Federal Reserve put up "walls" outside its building, possibly in anticipation of unrest? No, that's not true: The Federal Reserve is planning to renovate and expand two of its buildings in Washington, D.C. The claim appeared in a
Publication: Fact Check
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Finnish Report Did NOT Expose ‘Massive Pandemic Data Fraud’ — COVID Deaths Were NOT Fabricated
Did a Finnish report expose "massive pandemic data fraud" and show that 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths were fabricated? No, that's not true: The article cited in the social media post provides no data to support its claim. In addition, the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Independent Did NOT Publish Article Purporting Elon Musk’s Father Covered Up Cat Abuse Claims
Did The Independent, an online British daily newspaper, publish an article by reporter Graeme Massie with the headline, "Elon Musk's father paid college $125,000 to ignore animal abuse claims"? No, that's not true: The Independent never p
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Tabulator Trouble In Maricopa County Was NOT Proof Of Voter Fraud
Was the fact that Maricopa County, Arizona, experienced trouble with some of its tabulators early on Election Day proof of voter fraud? No, that's not true: There was a back-up plan in place to make sure every vote was counted. In the cas
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: George Soros Did NOT Fund Purchase Of Voting Machines To Rig 2022 Election
Did billionaire philanthropist George Soros fund the purchase of voting machines in order to rig the 2022 midterm elections? No, that's not true: Elections are funded by taxpayer dollars and Soros has no connections to voting machine or v
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Man Told He Can’t Vote Republican — Primary Polling Place Lacked GOP Staff To Stay Open
Were Republicans blocked from voting in a polling station? No, that's not true: A social media video that implies this claim is from the Texas primary election that took place in March 2022. Voting officials from each party are responsibl
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: AutoMARK Terminal Is NOT Ballot Tabulator — It’s Marking Device For Voters With Physical Impairments
Do videos show a voting machine at a New York polling place disregarding a voter's selections -- even though he made an effort to darken the selected circles? No, that's not true: The terminal pictured in the video is an AutoMARK assistiv
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Did NOT Perform Hindu Ceremony Outside 10 Downing Street Before Assuming Office
Does a social-media video of Rishi Sunak lighting candles on a doorstep show the United Kingdom's new prime minister performing a Hindu ceremony before assuming office? No, that's not true: This video dates from November 12, 2020, and can
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Did Tim Michels Say It’s ‘Not Unreasonable’ to Force Rape Victims to Give Birth?
A political advertisement from the Alliance for Common Sense—a political action committee aligned with the Democratic Party—claims that Tim Michels, the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin, said “it’s ‘not unreasonable’ to forc
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: California Has NOT ‘Perfected Fraudulent Voting Practices’ Allowing Ballot Harvesting
Has California perfected ballot harvesting? No, that's not true: California Secretary of State Communications Director Joe Kocurek told Lead Stories that the multiple claims about ballots in a social media post are false. Political partie
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Brazil’s President Bolsonaro Did NOT Declare Martial Law On November 2, 2022
Did Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who recently lost his reelection bid in a fiercely contested runoff, declare martial law on November 2, 2022? No, that's not true: A fake presidential decree circulating on social media that makes t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: GPS Data From Cellphones Does NOT Facilitate Election Fraud
Does GPS data from voters' cellphones help election fraudsters identify those who were registered but did not vote so the fraudsters can cast illegal ballots in the name of those people? Should voters avoid bringing cellphones to polling
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Nancy Pelosi Being Arrested By US Marshals — She’s Leaving Her House With Security Detail
Does this video show House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being detained or arrested by U.S. marshals? No, that's not true: This is video of Pelosi leaving her home in San Francisco and getting into a GM Suburban SUV with a small security detail on
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Gabby Petito’s Cause Of Death Was NOT ‘From the Vaccine’
Was a COVID-19 vaccination the cause of the August 2021 death of 22-year-old Florida resident Gabrielle Petito, who disappeared while traveling through Wyoming? No, that's not true: The official coroner's report confirms that Petito's cau
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CNN Did NOT Report That Russian Influencer Hasbulla Was Killed By Nerf Football Drone Strike in Ukraine
Did a U.S.-based cable news network publish a story stating that Russian influencer Hasbulla Magomedov died in a drone strike while fighting in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The story is a satirical fake created to look like a credible ne
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FDA Did NOT Pass ‘New Laws And Regulations’ To Ban Sea Moss In November 2022
Did the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pass "new laws and regulations" to ban sea moss in November 2022? No, that's not true: The FDA does not have the legal authority to either propose or approve legislation, including bans. As a reg
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Court Case Numbers Can NOT Be Cashed In As US Savings Bonds
Can court case numbers be "cashed in" as U.S. savings bonds? No, that's not true: A Treasury Department spokesperson told Lead Stories this claim is "100% false." The claim appeared in a TikTok post on September 7, 2022. The caption is "#
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Sliced Onions Will NOT Purify The Air To Keep Sickness At Bay
Do cut onions placed around a house purify the air by pulling viruses, toxins, bacteria and fungus out of the air, and will this process keep people from getting sick? No, that's not true: This folk remedy goes back hundreds of years, but
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Lack Of Presidential Seal Does NOT Mean Biden Isn’t President
Does the lack of the presidential seal on a podium from which Joe Biden spoke mean he's not really president? No, that's not true: Biden is the president of the United States. There is no requirement that presidents speak with the seal an
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Was NOT Killed In SpaceX Rocket Test
Was billionaire Elon Musk killed in a rocket testing mishap at his space exploration company, SpaceX? No, that's not true: Musk has been active on his verified Twitter account since the claim was published and news organizations were not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That Human Organs Were Found In Warehouse In California
Did the U.S. Marines find a warehouse in Chatsworth, California full of human organs "excised from adolescent children"? No, that's not true: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told Le
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Fire Twitter Employees Over Their Pronouns On November 4, 2022
Did Elon Musk fire Twitter employees on November 4, 2022 for telling him their pronouns ? No, that's not true: These online rumors were based on a satirical article published before the tech billionaire completed the acquisition of Twitte
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: David Icke NOT Labeled "Level Three Terrorist" In Dutch Letter Banning Him From Schengen Area Countries For Two Years
Was David Icke labeled a "level three terrorist" in an email he received from the Dutch government? No, that's not true: Dutch immigration authorities wrote Icke, a British conspiracy theorist and former soccer player, to inform him that
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Tap Water Does NOT Contain Harmful Levels Of Chlorine
Does tap water contain dangerous and harmful levels of chlorine, which is quickly absorbed by the skin? No, that's not true: Experts who spoke with Lead Stories said the volume of chlorine in ordinary tap water is considered safe and not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photos Of Earth From Space Are NOT All Computer Generated
Is it impossible to find a "real photo" of Earth taken from space that is not computer generated? No, that's not true: Seventy-six years ago, on October 24, 1946, the first photo of Earth was taken from a V-2 rocket 65 miles above the New
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pennsylvania Is NOT Under Court Order To Count Ballots Only On Election Day
Is Pennsylvania under a court order to only count ballots on Election Day? No, that's not true: The post provided no evidence of such a court order. Under current election law, unofficial results will be available within a few days of the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Audio Of Paul Pelosi’s 911 Call Has NOT Been Leaked As Of November 3, 2022
Has a recording of Paul Pelosi's October 28, 2022, phone call to emergency dispatchers leaked? No, that's not true: The San Francisco Police Department, which responded to the attack on the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelos
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Off-Duty Pentagon Cop NOT ‘Caught Dealing Fentanyl To Children During Trick Or Treating’ – Headline Altered
Was an off-duty Pentagon police officer caught dealing fentanyl to children during trick-or-treating? No, that's not true: Officer Eric Welch was arrested, but the arrest was on charges related to cocaine, not fentanyl, and the arrest too
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Seedless Limes Are NOT GMO
Are seedless limes a product of bioengineering that involves technology to alter plants' DNA? No, that's not true: Seedlessness occurs in nature, and farmers may use traditional breeding techniques to maintain this quality. That does not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Soursop Fruit Has NOT Been Proven To Be 10,000 Times Stronger Than Chemotherapy And Is NOT In Use As Cancer Treatment
Is soursop fruit 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy? No, that's not true: Soursop has not been proven in any clinical trials to be stronger than chemotherapy to any degree. According to a cancer professor at Harvard, this is "not a p
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CNN Did NOT Report Trump Died Of Autoerotic Asphyxiation
Did CNN report that Donald Trump died of autoerotic asphyxiation? No, that's not true: "It's a fabricated image and not anything CNN reported," a CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories. The post appears to be a joke since former President Don
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Moors’ Are NOT The Original Inhabitants Of North America — ‘Pyramids’ Are Native American Earthworks
Is the U.S. covered with the sites of ancient pyramids associated with a pre-Columbian African civilization known as the Moors? No, that's not true: Hundreds of ancient earthworks and mounds scattered throughout North America have been li
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Narcotraffickers, Communists Celebrating Lula Election Victory In Brazil — It’s From 2019
Does a social media video show narcotraffickers and Communists celebrating the election victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva In Brazil's presidential election? No, that's not true: The video clip shows street celebrations in Brazil from
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Paul Pelosi Did NOT Tell 911 Dispatcher David Is A Friend — These Were The Attacker’s Words
Does a publicly available 911 recording feature the voice of Paul Pelosi identifying the man in his house as David and stating that he is a friend? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, the recording of the actual 911 call has not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Kids Reading Words On 9/11 Is NOT Proof Of Conspiracy
Did children read words predicting the 9/11 attack "moments before" planes hit the World Trade Center as then-President George W. Bush sat with the children in a Sarasota, Florida, schoolroom? No, that's not true: An online claim to that
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: California Does NOT Allow Non-Citizens To Vote In Congressional Elections
Does California allow non-citizens to vote for congressional representatives, and does the state refuse to cooperate with the "Federal Election Integrity Program"? No, that's not true: California law does not give non-citizens the ability
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That Rapper Takeoff Was Killed By A Sniper Shot
Did gunfire from a sniper in Houston hit and kill Takeoff, a member of the rap group Migos? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, officials have presented no evidence that suggests that a sniper fired at Takeoff, the stage name of
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Do Booster Shots Increase a Person’s Likelihood of Getting COVID?
An article from The Defender claims that getting more COVID boosters increases a person’s likelihood of getting COVID. The article is written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, a frequent purveyor of vaccine misinformation. According to the articl
The Dispatch→ Fact Checking Tucker Carlson’s Claims About Vaccines and School Attendance
In a segment of his Fox News show on October 18, Tucker Carlson claimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “is about to add the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to atte
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Serial Killer NOT Active In Charlotte, North Carolina — Police Say Cases NOT Related
Is a serial killer slaying Black women and girls in Charlotte, North Carolina, with police unable to stop the culprit? No, that's not true: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) told Lead Stories that none of the cases report