Did former Secretary of State and retired Army General Colin Powell urge "the U.S. military to recall [retired Army Lieutenant General] Michael Flynn and put him on military trial for sedition?" No, that's not true: There is no record of Gen. Powell attacking Lt. Genn. Flynn in such a public statement, but Powell's former chief of staff retired U.S. Army…

Did the Federal government unsuccessfully attempt to operate the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada after seizing over a tax debt? No, that's not true: The U.S. government did seize the famed house of ill repute twice, but in each instance it was sold at auction. The Mustang Ranch was seized by the government in a 1990 bankruptcy proceeding in 1990…

Did a registered nurse in Nashville, Tennessee claim in a video that she develop Bell's Palsy three days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: The name the woman gave in a video making the claim is not listed in the official state database of registered nurses, or in any of the other 49 states, the District of…

Did a Cornell professor say "COVID-19 does not exist and is fictitious?" No, that's not true: A diatribe has gone viral that credits Robert Oswald, a real person and a Cornell professor, as claiming coronavirus is "just another flu strain," and that he believes it is a "COVID hoax," created by "China and the globalists." Oswald did not make these…

Is the certification of the Pennsylvania presidential vote premature and in error, based on an analysis that claims 202,377 more ballots were counted than there were voters who voted? No, that's not true: The analysis, released by a handful of state Republican lawmakers, was based on partial data, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS). The number of voters…

Did some California counties allow voters to use ImageCast Remote software to mark their mail-in ballots? Yes, that's true, but election officials insist the system is secure from fraud. The ImageCast Remote system allows voters to download a ballot on their personal computing devices, mark that ballot with their choices and then print or save that ballot and send it…

Did National Geographic send a photographer to northern Alaska to capture this photo of the Star of Bethlehem in December of 2020? No, that's not true: This image has been circulating online since at least 2014 and is not credited to National Geographic. It is a screenshot of a 'motion background' stock image titled "North Star Galaxy" available from the…

Was Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) the target of the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee? No, that's not true: Sungard AS has not had a Nashville presence since May 2015. "Accordingly, there was not any impact to Sungard AS by the Nashville explosion," a spokeswoman told Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on…

Is the American Automobile Association (AAA) offering complimentary tow truck services to people who have been drinking on New Years? No, that's not true: The program has been suspended for the 2020/2021 New Years holiday due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Tipsy Tow will not be offered in any state this year," said Ellen Edmonds, a public relations manager for AAA's…

Did President Trump invoke the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 as he signed the Covid-19 Relief Bill, forcing Congress to rescind section 230, cut wasteful spending, and to add $2,000 stimulus checks for all Americans? No, that's not true: The Impoundment Control Act does not force Congress to do anything. It was passed in 1974 as a way to limit…

Does a photo show suspected Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner wearing a Trump 2020 hat? No, that's not true: The photo circulated on social media in the days after the Christmas morning bombing in Nashville, Tennessee is not of Warner, the 63-year-old Tennessee man identified by the FBI as the bomber. The bearded man in the photo is clearly not…

Is Joe Biden a war hero, a Rhodes Scholar and a Harvard law school graduate? No, he is not any of those. The claims that the president-elect did hold those distinctions was part of a satirical meme intended to test fact checkers. It was not a tough call, since Lead Stories quickly concluded it is not misleading or false --…

Did the AT&T data center in Nashville, Tennessee, damaged by a Christmas morning bomb have a contract to audit Dominion voting machines? No, that's not true: An AT&T spokesman confirmed to Lead Stories via email there is no such contract. We've also been unable to find any documentation that any company has a contract to audit voting machines. The claim…

Did authorities release an image of the RV that exploded in Nashville on December 25, 2020 that showed comedian Sam Hyde behind the wheel? No, that's not true: blaming the comedian for being the perpetrator of all sorts of terror attacks, shootings etc. has become a strange in-joke among trolls on the internet and it happens almost every time there…

Are a couple of tweets and a link to a website named lacountyarrestrecords.com solid evidence Adam Schiff was arrested by the FBI at LAX Airport on December 24, 2020? No, that's not true: tweets are not solid evidence and there is no reason FBI arrests would show up on a website claiming to show county arrest records. The website itself…

Did 14 U.S. military generals say they would never take orders for President Joe Biden? No, that's not true: The claim was made in a satirical article published by the ALLOD network of websites that troll conservatives, hoping to trick them into sharing false claims. The claim originated in an article (archived here) published by DailyWorldUpdate.us on November 19, 2020…

Does an advertising video titled "The Plot To Steal America" contain hard evidence of election fraud? No, that's not true: the 18-minute pitch contains allegations based on video clips purporting to show "evidence" but several of these clips do not actually show what is being claimed. The announcer repeats 11 already-debunked claims in the opening five minutes, then tells viewers…

Are instant noodles coated with a wax used in Styrofoam packaging that could cause cancer? No, that's not true: Labels of popular brands of instant noodles don't show wax among the ingredients and makers of such products have refuted wax-coated noodle claims for years. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration regulates food ingredients and packaging, aimed at ensuring a safe…

Was this photo of a total solar eclipse taken by NASA on December 14, 2020? No, that's not true: While there was a total solar eclipse on December 14, 2020, which cast a shadow on a narrow band of the southern end of South America, visible in Chile and Argentina, this image has nothing to do with it. This image…

Are coronavirus vaccines primarily designed to improve survival rates of those already infected? No, that's not true: Vaccines are designed to reduce the risk of infection in the first place. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published by Chad Prather on December 18, 2020. The post read: How will we know the vaccine is working? Will the…