Epstein

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempt to explain the presence of Donald Trump's last name in the newly released Epstein files by saying that it was "another person with the same name", not a reference to Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from a self-described satire…

Did the Associated Press publish a fact check titled 'No, Ghislaine Maxwell did not own a horse named "Bubba"' and did it mention her having a golden retriever at the time? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot showing such a headline along with AP's logo and mentioning Jeffrey Epstein is fake. There is no such story on the Associated…

Was Mark Epstein referring to a horse named "Bubba" in an email to his brother Jeffrey Epstein when he wrote "Ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Mark Epstein told Lead Stories in a phone call the 2018 message was not about a horse. The claim that it was…

Did Jeffrey Epstein's brother raise a question in a real email about if Russian President Vladimir Putin had photos of Donald Trump "blowing Bubba"? Yes, that's true: The 2018 email thread, one of the 23,000 emails released by the House GOP Oversight Committee in November 2025, referenced "DONNI TEE," "your boy Donnie," as well as "Trump." Mark Epstein sent a…

Did a "Breaking" news story show White House lawyers worried that Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Nancy Mace had recorded phone calls in which President Donald Trump "begged" them to vote against release of the Epstein files by the FBI? No, that's not true: There was no such report and the rumor started on a social media satire page. The…

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…

Does a photo show Pam Bondi with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: The image being widely shared across social platforms with the claim it shows the future Attorney General Bondi with Trump and Epstein is real, but the blonde woman is Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve, according to the photo agency that owns the photograph. The Getty…

Is a video of an Army general telling troops that they are not in Portland because it's a war zone, but to distract from the Epstein files and protect President Trump authentic? No, that's not true: An AI detector tool concluded it was 99.7 percent AI-generated, and there are several major discrepancies from reality that confirm the video is a…

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 an authentic photo showing the White House lawn partially covered by a large banner that features the images of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: The banner is real and was displayed on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 15, 2025, but not on the White House lawn in Washington, D.C. A…