Jeffrey Epstein

Did Fox News refer to President Donald Trump as "Former president" on their website? Yes, that's true: The phrase appeared in the subheading of a breaking news story about the allegations Elon Musk had been making against Trump. The subheader read "Former president reveals he asked billionaire to leave position after months of tension". It appeared in an article (archived…

Did Antifa hang a Jeffrey Epstein banner next to Donald Trump's banner on the Department of Agriculture building in Washington? No, that's not true: Epstein's image was added with digital manipulation of a real photo of the front of the Agriculture Department headquarters next to the National Mall. The account that first shared the image said in another post that…

Did Gene Hackman vow to "corroborate everything in the Epstein client list" in an X.com post a year before his death? No, that's not true: The user name seen in the purported February 2024 tweet does not exist and there is no indication online the 95-year-old actor was active on the social media platform in recent years. While no "client…

Did the GOP House Judiciary Committee link to a "Rickroll" video in a tweet promising the "Epstein files?" Yes, that's true: The GOP committee posted a tweet on February 27, 2025, that said, "Breaking: Epstein Files Released," with a link that went to a video of Rick Astley singing the song "Never Gonna Give You Up," a trick known as…

Did a video authentically show Rogan O'Handley, Chaya Raichik, Scott Presler, Liz Wheeler, Chad Prather and other people holding "Epstein Files" binders and dancing while exiting the White House? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool found the video "suspicious" and contained several oddities pointing to an AI origin. The video appears to be based on an actual photo…

Did the U.S. Justice Department just release the 1998-2004 flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein's Boeing 727? No, that's not true: We've had then since early 2015 and have embedded copies of the flight logs in several Lead Stories fact checks. This reporter investigated allegations of Epstein's abuse of young females as a national correspondent for American Media Inc. in January…

Does a photo show Bill and Hillary Clinton fleeing the country just before documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case were expected to be released in late February 2025? No, that's not true: The photo circulating on social media is a still frame from a video filmed on July 8, 2018. The video was published in a Daily Mail article the…

Did USAID fund financier and noted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein via the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.? No, that's not true: A screenshot circulating online on social media actually lists "Jeffrey E Epstein," a different person who is a director at Kaiser Permanente. Several of his online profiles show he sometimes goes by the name of "Jeff Epstein" but his…

Does an authentic photo show Canadian Liberal Party leadership candidate Mark Carney with Jeffrey Epstein in a pool? No, that's not true: Multiple online artificial intelligence detectors judged that this image was almost certainly AI generated. Lead Stories found no real photos of Carney and Epstein together after consulting online news archives and image searching tools. The image appeared in…

Did Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, publicly say in January 2025 that he "will leave the USA if the Epstein Client List is released"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports to support Gates' supposed announced departure. Court materials detailing Jeffrey Epstein's contacts were made public in January 2024. Neither Gates nor any reputable news organization…