Does a video show election workers in Clark County, Washington, illegally closing ballot drop boxes "30 minutes prior" to the voting close time, insinuating that there is fraudulent activity involved with voter mail-in ballots? No, that's not true: The video shows a certified election worker giving a voter the appropriate legal options to submit their mail-in ballot. The Clark County…

Did Gov. Ron DeSantis argue with Sean Hannity about the FBI's role in the search of Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago home? No, that's not true: Video purporting to show the Florida governor defending the FBI search in a FOX News segment with Hannity and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump is altered. Video of DeSantis arguing with a reporter at a news conference…

Is the IRS trying to arm all its employees? No, that's not true: A job posting from the IRS Criminal Investigation unit, which carries firearms, does refer to carrying firearms. However, the unit consists of only 2,100 law enforcement agents, according to a spokesperson. In comparison, during fiscal year 2021, the IRS used close to 80,000 full-time equivalent positions for…

Is this an accurate list of 25 taxes that didn't exist 60 years ago? No, that's not true: The list includes taxes that have been around since long before 1962. For example, federal taxes on tobacco and alcohol date as far back as the 18th century, as do property taxes. Other taxes, like the Social Security tax and sales tax,…

Did former President Barack Obama take 30 million pages of documents, including some secret nuclear papers, from the White House to Chicago when he left the presidency and then refuse to return them? No, that's not true: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) did ship 30 million pages of documents to a secure NARA facility in Chicago, but they…

Is a photograph real that shows Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, partying with the judge who approved the FBI warrant to search former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence? No, that's not true: It's been altered. The original photo, previously published by several media outlets in December 2021, shows Maxwell with Epstein, not the judge. The claim appeared…

Is the IRS opening a "sniper school"? No, that's not true: The IRS Criminal Investigation unit declared to Lead Stories that there is no such school opening. The claim was made in an article on a website known for fictitious content. The claim was originally found in an article (archived here) published on August 10, 2022, and titled "IRS to…

Does this video show 20 warplanes escorting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plane during her visit to Taiwan on August 2, 2022? No, this daytime video is from U.S. Naval Air Forces exercises in the Philippine Sea in 2020, according to a media officer with the U.S. Naval Air Forces. Pelosi arrived in Taiwan at night aboard a U.S. passenger…

Is Congress considering a bill that would cut $300 billion from Medicare to fund Obamacare, former President Barack Obama's health care law? No, that's not true: The Inflation Reduction Act, which was introduced by congressional Democrats, was passed in the Senate through the reconciliation process on August 7, 2022. If it became law, the measure would reduce some drug costs…

Does the United States have 1,477 deep underground military bases around the world? No, that's not true: According to a duty officer at U.S. Defense Press Operations, "That claim is not true." The claim, which was originally on TikTok, reappeared as a Facebook post on August 5, 2022, under the title "Bet you your teachers and professors don't know and…

Did "U.S. Army Special Forces" arrest Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on August 6, 2022? No, that's not true: "There is no truth to this claim," a duty officer at the Pentagon told Lead Stories. The U.S. military is not allowed to arrest civilians under the Posse Comitatus Act. In addition, these claims were posted on…

Does a TikTok video shared on Facebook show the government burning crops and causing food shortages? No, that's not true: It captures a normal practice of farmers doing prescribed burns to improve the quality of their fields. The claim appeared in a TikTok video that started circulating on Facebook on May 16, 2022. It depicts flames in what appeared to…

Was George Soros banned from Hungary, his birth country? No, that's not true: According to a communications director at the Open Society Foundations, where George Soros is the founder and the chair, as of this writing he has not been banned from Hungary. The claim appeared in a Facebook post with a video on August 3, 2022, under the title…

Did Amazon's Alexa offer this reply: "Joe Biden died in National Naval Medical Center" when asked: "Where did Joe Biden fall off his bicycle?" Yes, for several days in late July 2022, Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa responded to that specific question with a perplexing answer. But President Joe Biden did not die in July 2022. He fell off his bicycle…

Was President Joe Biden caught in a child predator sting by NBC "Dateline" host Chris Hansen and a decoy pretending to be a 13-year-old girl? No, that's not true: This video mashup uses clips from two unrelated videos that were filmed more than a decade apart to fabricate a dialogue. Some of the footage is from a 2007 "Dateline" segment…

Is this picture an accurate depiction of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: This picture has been widened to make it look as if Trump has gained weight. The true picture, credited to Getty Images, is not as wide and features Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the personal banker to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The claim appeared in a…

Did the U.S. president announce a program giving "Health Credits" to anyone making under $50,000 a year? No, that's not true: This claim does not contain any proof of the purported program, and government resources do not show any information detailing any such program as of this writing. The claim originated from a Facebook post published on July 30, 2022,…

Did the U.S. military arrest Avril Haines, the director of National Intelligence, on August 2, 2022? No, that's not true: A duty officer at the Pentagon told Lead Stories that this claim was "false." The claim is not corrobrated by contemporaneous reports from reputable media outlets that Haines has been arrested. The U.S. military is not allowed to arrest civilians…

Was a DNA test ordered to "determine male or female prison" professional basketball player Brittany Griner would be placed in while imprisoned in Russia? No, that's not true: There have been no reports in any reputable media that a DNA test was ordered for Griner at any time since she has been in Russia. There is no corroboration of the…

Is there a program approved by "the authorities" offering up to $150,000 in benefits to U.S. citizens? No, that's not true: The claim is one of the many posts on social media that falsely insinuate that people can receive government-approved benefits, illustrated with public-domain images from government chambers. In reality, the "benefits" are just an advertising strategy. The claim was…