The Dispatch→ Our Best Stuff From the Week of the Georgia Indictment
Plus, Hunter Biden’s legal woes and a deep dive on class resentment and populism.
The Dispatch→ Can Trump Afford a Debate No-Show?
There are downsides to skipping, and downsides to showing up.
The Dispatch→ The Right Regime
A response to "conservatism never conserved anything"
The Dispatch→ Retconning Capitalism
Sohrab Ahmari’s critiques of free markets in ‘Tyranny, Inc.’ conflate private power with state-backed coercion.
The Dispatch→ What ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ Gets Right
The song’s admittedly uncomplicated narrative reflects the nation’s rural-urban divide.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Rachel Levine Did NOT Refer To Mothers As ‘Egg Producers’ While Visiting A Gender Clinic in Alaska
Did U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, a physician, describe mothers as "egg producers" during her August 6, 2023, visit to an LGBTQ+ clinic in Alaska? No, that's not true: None of the sources describing this suppo
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ Hawaii’s governor did not tell reporters he wants to make Lahaina a ‘smart city’
CLAIM: A video shows Hawaii Gov. Josh Green saying he wants the state to acquire land destroyed in the Maui wildfire so that it can turn the town of Lahaina into a “smart city.”
PolitiFact→ Instagram posts – No evidence direct energy weapons caused Maui wildfires
"Hawaii is being attacked by direct energy weapons."
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ Online posts spread misinformation about FEMA aid following Maui wildfires
Social media users are discouraging residents from accepting disaster aid in Maui, falsely claiming the Federal Emergency Management Agency could seize their property if they do.
The Dispatch→ Trump’s Unconstitutional Enterprise
There’s no reason to cling to the presumption of innocence on his moral and historical culpability.
The Dispatch→ What Are Parties For?
Further thoughts on this week’s newsletters.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Trump Visiting Maui After Wildfires — It’s Alabama In 2019
Does a video show former President Donald Trump visiting the Hawaiian island of Maui in August 2023 to comfort survivors of the devastating wildfires there? No, that's not true: The footage of Trump is from 2019, when Trump visited Alabam
FactCheck.org→ High Winds, Drought Conditions Led to Maui Fires, No Evidence Intentionally Set
SciCheck Digest It’s not known what sparked the wildfires in Maui, although some evidence points to downed power lines. The conditions were ripe for fire, as large amounts of invasive grasses were dry due to drought and high winds helped to rapid
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Maui Did NOT Ban New Building Unless There Was A Serious Natural Disaster
Did government officials in Maui pass a law prohibiting new building unless some sort of "serious natural disaster" occurred, thereby raising suspicions about the cause of the deadly August 2023 wildfires on the Hawaiian island? No, that'
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ No, Hawaii didn’t pass a law allowing development only in the event of a natural disaster
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Did Fulton County DA Fani Willis campaign to ‘get Trump'? No, she didn’t say that
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump.’”
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ Video of light flashing through sky above a beach was taken in Florida, not Maui, contrary to claims
CLAIM: A video of a beam of light traveling through clouds across the sky above the ocean was filmed in Lahaina, in Maui, around the time of the wildfires.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NASA In Hebrew Does NOT Translate To ‘To Deceive’
Does NASA translated from Hebrew mean "to deceive" in English? No, that's not true: NASA is an English-language acronym that stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In Hebrew, there is a word that is pronounced like
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show 2023 DEW Attack On Hawaii — It’s A 2018 SpaceX Launch From California
Did a laser beam from a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) blast Hawaii just before the wildfires started in August 2023? No, that's not true: This is not a photo of a DEW laser hitting Hawaii. It shows a time-lapse image of a SpaceX rocket lau
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Latvia Did NOT Plan To Invade Russia In 2023 Or Between 2011 And 2015 — It’s A Parody Account’s Claim
Have Latvia's "secret plans" to invade Russia recently been exposed? And does information from military archives confirm these plans? No, that's not true: The author of the claim later publicly referred to it as "obvious satire." The stor
FactCheck.org→ Injection Protects Babies from RSV Hospitalization, Has Not Been Linked to Deaths
SciCheck Digest Each year, respiratory syncytial virus hospitalizes 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an antibody injection for babies to protect them during the RSV season. There i
Full Fact→ Mountain Dew drink doesn’t prove Maui fires were ‘planned’
The claim has been shared widely online following wildfires on the Hawaiian island.
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: Georgia officials didn't “forget” to redact the names of the grand jurors who indicted former President Donald Trump; that's standard in the state.
The Dispatch→ New Georgia GOP Chair Straddles Trump and Kemp on 2020 Election Question
Plus: Where is Doug Burgum?
Logically→ France is not preparing air strikes against Niger to retain its economic influence in the country
Logically→ Obamas and other celebrities’ estates and mansions survived the Maui fires not because they were directed
Logically→ Video extract shared to claim Putin snubbed a handshake with French President
Logically→ Old visuals captured by International Space Station passed off as visuals from Chandrayaan 3
Logically→ Digitally altered image used to claim laser beam started fires in Hawaii
Logically→ Visuals of a transformer exploding in Chile shared as footage of Hawaii wildfire
Logically→ No, the Governor of Hawaii did not say that a ‘bomb and fire went off’ in Lahaina
Logically→ Edited video of BBC news clip shared as President Biden’s ‘confession’ that Buhari died 6 years ago
Logically→ పులి స్నానం చేస్తున్నట్టు గా వైరల్ అవుతున్న వీడియో కర్ణాటకలోని కూర్గ్ లో తీసినది కాదు
Logically→ ಶಾರ್ಟ್ ಫಿಲಿಮ್ ನ ದೃಶ್ಯವನ್ನು ಹರಿಯಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಮರ ವಿರುದ್ದದ ಹಿಂಸಾಚಾರ ಎಂದು ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ
Logically→ Old video of mulch fire in Cleveland passed off as visuals of wildfires in Hawaii and California
The Dispatch→ Strolling Toward a Shutdown
Plus: So much for the hopes for a room-temperature semiconductor.
Logically→ రామాయణంకి సంబంధించి రాహుల్ గాంధీ చేసిన వ్యాఖ్యలని క్లిప్ చేసి వైరల్ చేశారు
Logically→ RFK Jr. makes false claims about children’s vaccines safety
Logically→ No, this video does not show a ‘direct energy weapons attack’ on Maui