Deep State

Was Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of shooting at attendees at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner, on the payroll of the Democratic National Committee and several California Democratic politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and Adam Schiff? No, that's not true: A DNC spokesperson, a Newsom spokesperson, and a Pelosi spokesperson all told Lead Stories the…

Did Al Jazeera broadcast a report stating that NATO countries shared intel with Iran on U.S. military movements? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find evidence of such a report. The video claiming to be the Al Jazeera report contained an AI-generated voice-over. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on April 22, 2026.…

Is a viral video showing President Donald Trump falling asleep during a press event at the White House real and did he actually hit his head on his desk? No, that's not true: The video and screenshots of it shared by social media users originated from a self-described meme account. The clip was digitally altered, likely using AI. The claim…

Do real photos show an Israel Defense Forces soldier repairing and revering the same crucifixion statue he vandalized? No, that's not true: Two images -- one showing a soldier washing the statue and another showing a soldier kneeling at the base of the cross -- are AI-generated. The photos were identified by Google Gemini as having a SynthID watermark. The…

Did Pope Leo XIV say, "Iran can have a nuclear weapon," as President Donald Trump suggested on the White House lawn in April 2026? No, that's not true: The pope has repeatedly argued against war and denounced nuclear weapons. In March 2026, he posted on X, "Let us #PrayTogether that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that…

Does an image of Pakistani government officials being searched by U.S. military members during Iran peace talks that took place in April 2026 show a real event? No, that's not true: The image showed several signs of AI generation. Additionally, there were no news reports that such a search actually happened. The claim appeared in a post published on X…

Does a real video show the Saudi foreign minister stating that "the era of relying on the US has ended"? No, that's not true: According to three translation tools, the caption fabricated the content of the video it claimed to summarize. In reality, the clip showed Faisal bin Farhan discussing in 2022 Saudi Arabia's cooperation with the West and the…

Were Dalton Knecht, Clayton Kershaw, Andre Iguodala and many other sports celebrities and their associates fatally shot, "while tryiпg to break υp a bar fight"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning them and other people were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no credible news articles about such events. The Knecht version…

Did First Lady Melania Trump make a public statement defending President Trump, saying "what is happening to my husband goes far beyond ordinary criticism"? No, that's not true: The claim bears the hallmarks of so-called "Viet Spam" campaigns of nearly identical made-up clickbait stories, each featuring a different famous person, created to drive traffic to web pages based overseas, often…

Is an image of a smiling man in a combat uniform holding an American flag a real photo of a U.S. F-15 crew member after his rescue from Iran? No, that's not true: An AI content detection tool determined the image was AI-generated. The fake image fooled some people on social media, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who reposted it…