Do these viral videos show the U.S. seizing oil tankers linked to Venezuela on January 7, 2026? No, that's not true: Those clips are unrelated to the U.S. pursuit of the tankers "Bella-1" and "Sophia". The clips can be found in posts that predate the capture of the ships. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on…
Does a viral image show a real news report saying that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office "tried to tip off" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro before his capture? No, that's not true: No such report could be found. Neither CBS News, nor any other media outlet published news of such a leak. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…
False claims about the Charlie Kirk assassination, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and purported verbal gaffes by President Trump topped the list of most-read Lead Stories fact checks in 2025. Here are our most read fact checks of the past year, reflecting our reader's interest in finding out the truth about various viral stories. If you see something suspicious in 2026,…
Did Donald Trump mistakenly read "state your name" instead of using his own name while swearing in newly enlisted U.S. troops during the half-time of a Washington Commanders - Detroit Lions game? No, that's not true: Prompting "state your name" is how the officiating officer does it, reminding oath takers to say their name aloud as they repeat the oath…
Do flight logs show that the man who anonymously donated $130 million to pay American soldiers during the October 2025 U.S. government shutdown flew on Jeffrey Epstein's Lolita Express plane? No, that's not true: The flight log page cited in social media posts making the claim does show that Paul Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, flew with Epstein…
Is there evidence that Erika Kirk was a recruiter for Jeffrey Epstein or that she had her husband, Charlie Kirk, killed to shut him up about it? No, that's not true: The claim appears to be based on another false claim that Erika Kirk operated a charity in Romania that was used for trafficking orphaned children internationally. Lead Stories previously…
Is there any evidence that Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk's "Romanian Angels" or "Everyday Heroes like You" ministries were accused of "snatching children only to send them straight into sex and organ trafficking networks in the United Kingdom and Israel? No, that's not true: A review of Romanian court records and media reports by Lead Stories' Romanian staff found only…
Does a viral video show the incident where two Venezuelan F-16s flew near an American warship on September 4, 2025? No, that's not true: The video clip in question has been online since August 30, 2025. This is before both the U.S. airstrike on a boat on September 2, 2025 and reports of two Venezuelan F-16 jets flying near the…
Did retired Gen. Mark Milley tell troops being deployed to U.S. cities in August of 2025 that they "do not report to a dictator", as posts on social media claim? No, that's not true: Milley's remarks were made in September of 2023, almost two years before President Donald Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Milley,…
Does a widely-shared video prove that U.S. military tanks patrolled the streets of Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2025? No, that's not true: The person who recorded it told Lead Stories that the 10-second clip showed an armored vehicle that was in the nation's capital to participate in a military parade on June 14, 2025. That account was consistent with…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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