Congress

Did Congressman Jack Kimble actually speak with his friend, Senator Mitch McConnell on July 7, 2026? No, that's not true: Congressman Jack Kimble does not exist. The rumor about the supposed conversation came from a page that has been known as a satire account for years. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @RepJackKimble on…

Did a story claiming that men said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a high-priced escort in Boston come from an actual news source? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page known for posting satirical content that carries the disclaimer, "Nothing on this page is real," and the accompanying image bears the same warning. Lead Stories found no…

Did Jeff Bezos say water should be used to fuel AI rather than for human consumption in public remarks at the 2026 VivaTech conference in Paris? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that Bezos made that statement at the conference. A search of the transcript of the 49-minute session found neither the quote attributed to Bezos, nor…

Does a real order from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts allow Donald Trump to seek "four additional years" as president? No, that's not true: A search of the Supreme Court of the United States' docket found no order bearing the number shown in the fake document. Supreme Court orders are public records. While portions of a case file may…

Does a video show "illegal cutout windows" in Maricopa County, Arizona, ballot envelopes in order to make it easy to identify Republican ballots for election-fraud purposes? No, that's not true: The window in the outgoing enveloppes is there so the QR code can be scanned as part of ballot-quality control during primaries, former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer told Lead…

Did the Department of Justice issue a warrant to seize Sen. Adam Schiff's financial records or suspend his passport over alleged U.S. House January 6 Committee cash grifts? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page known for its satirical content, which carries the warning "Nothing on this page is real." The original image supporting the claim…

Did Rep. Thomas Massie lose by 10,280 votes in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District Republican primary in May 2026, while candidate Ed Gallrein received 10,854 mail-in votes? And did Massie receive 50,301 votes out of 66,874 total votes in the 2022 primary, compared with 47,539 out of 105,361 total votes in 2026? Yes, those tallies are all true: Election results from…

Did "Biden body double" AJ Barron flip and cut a deal to testify about acting on behalf of the then-sitting president? No, that's not true: The tale originated from America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD), a network of satire sites. Lead Stories found no record of anyone named AJ Barron publicly claiming to be a Biden body double. The claim…

Is a post by Rep. Jack Kimble warning that members of Congress don't even make "$200k per year in Congress despite working nearly 140 days" from a real member of Congress? No, that's not true: The Rep. Jack Kimble account on X.com is a parody account. However, the replies to these posts indicate people are often tricked by the messages…

Is a memo about an "unidentified humanoid" a real Department of War document released with other "UFO files" in May 2026? No, that's not true: The document does not appear in the publicly available UFO files released by the Trump administration or the Department of War as of the time of publication. A search for "1994" in the files, the…