Merrick Garland

Did an announcement by U.S. intelligence officials that there's no foreign interference in U.S. elections through early September 2024 undermine the Department of Justice's indictment of alleged Russian operatives? No, that's not true: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated that there's no evidence of a "foreign actor" directly interfering in the process of conducting an election, while…

Did the use-of-force language in the FBI plan for the raid at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 give agents special authority to assassinate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: There is no evidence or indication in any official documents or statements that suggests the FBI agents were given authority to assassinate anyone, including the former president. The purpose of the raid…

Did the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps begin the tribunal of Attorney General Merrick Garland on March 22, 2024, because he was purportedly charged with treason? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that the information in this claim is "false." This claim appears on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in…

Did U.S. Special Forces arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 29, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared on a website that publishes fabricated content. The Posse Comitatus Act also prohibits the U.S. military from arresting civilians unless authorized to do so under an act of Congress. There is no evidence that any such authorization was applied to…

Was Jacob Chansley, the Capitol rioter better known as the "QAnon Shaman," released early from prison to a halfway house "following video evidence showing that January 6 [2021] was a hoax" and an "inside job"? No, that's not true: The Bureau of Prisons told Lead Stories that Chansley was transferred from a federal correctional institution to community confinement on March…

Did a Facebook video reveal that Elon Musk leaked information that proves President Joe Biden is "mortally sick"? No, that's not true: This video has a clickbait title and does not say Musk has inside information that Biden is ill. There are also no news articles about Musk revealing information about Biden's health. The claim appeared on Facebook on December…

Does this video show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez getting "thrown out" of Congress during a congressional hearing? No, that's not true: The footage is from a 2019 hearing and does not show her being ejected. The transcript from this hearing also does not show anyone asking Ocasio-Cortez to leave or be escorted out of the room. The headline is clickbait. The…

Does a video of a congressional hearing show Sen. Ted Cruz leaking incriminating information about U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, claiming that the nation's top law enforcer will "rot in jail"? No, that's not true: It's a bait-and-switch. The Texas senator never uses the phrase, nor mentions Garland, during the video. The claim appeared in an October 5, 2022, Facebook…

Did Sen. Ted Cruz say he has Hunter Biden's laptop and leak a secret document implicating U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland? No, that's not true: This video does not include any of those claims. The video is an exchange between Cruz and Franita Tolson, the George T. and Harriet E. Pfleger Chair in Law at the University of Southern California…

Was Ruth Bader Ginsburg "nominated and confirmed 43 days before an election"? No, that's not true: Ginsburg was nominated and confirmed in 42 days (not 43) in 1993 -- which was not an election year. The previous year, 1992, was an election year, in which Bill Clinton won for the first time. Approximately eight months into his first term, he…