Were eight years lost when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, meaning that the global apocalypse supposedly foretold in the Mayan calendar for 2012 actually was supposed to happen in 2020? No, that's not true: Only 10 days were lost when the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar because it is more accurate. Besides, the Mayan calendar did not…

Did someone hack into the electronic voting system being used in Georgia for the January 5, 2020, U.S. Senate runoff races? No, Georgia election officials say that's not true: The digital poll book was not even in use on December 30, 2020, the day J. Hutton Pulitzer told lawmakers he had hacked his way into it. On two occasions since…

Is the United States giving $700 billion to other countries? No, that's not true: The entire U.S. State Department and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) budget was estimated at about $52.5 billion, or $52,505,402,000, for fiscal 2021, according to State Department documents. That not only covers foreign aid, but such costs as embassy security, construction and maintenance. Total…

Does a video show "ANTIFA being bused into D.C. in advance of a MAGA rally on January 6, 2020"? No, that's not true: A video that claims to show buses of protesters heading into Washington, D.C., for the pro-Trump rally on January 6, 2021, is old footage -- it is actually from a December 5, 2020, protest at the governor's…

Does this photo show one of the "caravans from all over the nation headed to DC" for the January 6, 2021, protests in support of President Trump? No, that's not true: The photo was taken at an October 24, 2020, Trump rally in the San Francisco area, based on photos Lead Stories found online of the event, including those taken…

Is the White House flying a 1776 flag as a signal from President Trump for a revolution? No, that's not true: This is a photo from 2019 and not a signal to revolt. This post comes as many Trump supporters are descending on Washington, D.C., to protest the January 6, 2021, meeting of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote…

Does calling 999 if you are kidnapped and then pressing 55 let police know that "you can't talk, so they will track you"? No, that's not true: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Lead Stories that it was not aware of such a service in the U.S. NHTSA's National 911 Program coordinates "federal efforts that support 911 services…

Were ballots used in Republican areas of Georgia different from ballots used in Democratic areas of the state, resulting in a rigged election? No, that's not true: A purported elections expert -- who the Georgia secretary of state's office described as a "failed treasure hunter" -- claimed that since ballots have a unique bar code for each precinct, that "caused…

Did people in Germany protest against higher gas prices by abandoning their cars in the streets? No, that's not true: The photograph supporting the claim shows a traffic jam in Shenzhen in the Guangdong Province of China in 2012, and not a protest in Germany. While gas prices in Germany increased significantly on January 1, 2021, due to a newly…

Are COVID-19 hospital surges just like flu season hospital surges? No, that's not true: The COVID-19 burden is significantly higher. At least 758,261 hospitalizations for COVID-19 have occurred so far in the United States, and that figure is a significant undercount because it does not include data from a number of large states, including California. National figures are not available.…

Does this photo show a caravan headed to DC from California in support of the pro-Trump rally on January 6, 2021? No, that's not true: The photograph on social media showing a long line of cars with American flags traveling on a highway is from October 2020 and shows cars on New York's Long Island, New York, not vehicles traveling…

Does Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have a brother named Ron who is the chief technology officer for the China-based Huawei Corporation? No, that's not true: While Huawei does have a Ron Raffensperger working as the CTO of its subsidiary Huawei Enterprise Storage Solutions, he is not the Georgia sercretary of state's brother. "Secretary Raffensperger does not have a…

Is Joe Biden stepping down as president-elect because of health issues? No, that's not true: This is a fabricated claim. Biden is not stepping down. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) where it was published by @UndergroundPatriot on January 1, 2021, with the caption "Here we go !!!" The Facebook post, which came in the form of…

Did D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser order the shut down of businesses during the week of January 4, 2021, to discourage Trump supporters from gathering in Washington? No, that's not true: In a statement on protests planned for January 6, 2021, Mayor Bowser discouraged D.C. residents from engaging with the protesters and laid out a slew of street closures around the…

Did Donald Trump literally beg the Georgia secretary of state to "invent" 11,000 votes? No, that's not true: The president did not utter "invent" during an hour-long phone call with Brad Raffensperger. To be clear, Trump repeatedly pressured Raffensperger to recalculate the vote in Georgia so that the state would flip in his favor -- he used the words "find"…

Did a "New York Times Election Report" reveal 104,984 Stolen Votes in Georgia and 347,768 in Pennsylvania? And was this report published by a "European paper" because the rest of the world gets different news? No, that's not true: the headline "New York Times Election Report Reveals 104,984 Stolen Votes in Ga, 347,768 in PA" appeared in the Central City…

Did a pro-Trump "operative" uncover thousands of counterfeit November 2020 Fulton County ballots stored in an Atlanta warehouse? No, that's not true: Photos of boxes of ballots showed emergency paper ballots stored in the warehouse as back-ups in the event voting machines failed on election day. Election rules require each county to hold emergency ballots equal to at least 10%…

Does Joe Biden have a plan to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for Americans? No, that's not true: President-elect Biden has repeatedly said that he would not propose making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory. "I don't think it should be mandatory. I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory," Biden said at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware on December 3, 2020. There is…

Can all Washington, D.C. residents now register to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine? No, that's not true: Washington, D.C. is in Phase 1A of its vaccination program, where priority is given to health care workers, including those in acute care and specialty care hospitals and those working in long-term care facilities. Priority is also given to residents in skilled nursing facilities…

Did Amazon spray chemicals on their boxes which resulted in sick or dead pets? No, that's not true: Amazon said it does not treat their cardboard shipping boxes with either pesticides or disinfectants. A box industry spokesman said they know of no shippers who spray cardboard boxes with chemicals harmful to pets. A chemist who studied potential risks of cardboard…