Is former President Donald Trump facing the possibility of the death penalty in the four indictments against him? No, that's not true: Lead Stories spoke to three legal experts who told us that none of the charges against Trump carries the death penalty if convicted. While one charge, "Conspiracy against rights," can be eligible for the death penalty, that's only…

Did Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates suggest on the social media platform X that people who resist a coming "mRNA tsunami" will be punished by exclusion from society? No, that's not true: There's no record the billionaire ever wrote it on his account. The expression "mRNA tsunami" was taken from a different person's public talk, and it was said in a…

Did country singer Jason Aldean refuse a $1 million paycheck to sing the national anthem at the 2024 Super Bowl, saying, "I'll do it for free"? No, that's not true: This claim came from a satirical website. Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites did not confirm that Aldean had turned down the paycheck, had made such a…

Did the "entire population" of Hawaii chant "Fk (Fuck) Joe Biden" during the president's visit to Maui on August 21, 2023? No, that's not true: A short clip on social media did not show any supposed protesters, and footage of the same event, captured by two news outlets independent of one another, established that nobody was chanting anything during this…

Does a video shared to social media on August 23, 2023, show Russian oligarch Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin's jet "on fire before crashing"? No, that's not true: While the video itself is authentic, it documented an unrelated plane crash that reportedly occurred nearly two months earlier on June 24, 2023, "near the village of Kantemirovk," about 700 miles from the village…

Do vitamin K shots typically given to infants at birth put their lives at risk with excessive and unreasonable exposure to dangerous ingredients? No, that's not true: The claim is misleading about the properties of the additives and omits the life-saving benefits of the injections. The claim appeared in a reel published to Facebook on May 25, 2023. Its caption…

Did conservative TV personality Candace Owens call professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe an "angry toddler" while debating Rapinoe on a segment of her show, "Candace"? No, that's not true: A representative of Rapinoe told Lead Stories this is "false information." Also, this claim appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. The claim appeared in…

Is Lyme disease a "made-up disease" that "was and is always" HIV/AIDS? No, that's not true: Lyme disease and HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, are distinct. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by ticks. HIV is a virus. The two have different causes, symptoms and treatments. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, the site…

Mike & Dennis At Lead Stories we have a long history of looking at Mike Lindell's election fraud claims. Readers will remember our fact checks about Lindell's four conspiracy-filled election fraud "documentaries" here, here, here and here, or our coverage of his Cyber Symposium here. We also warned him about Dennis Montgomery, a man with a long history of providing…

Is an image of Donald Trump in a black pin-stripe suit the real mug shot taken after he was surrendered and was arrested in Atlanta on August 24, 2023? No, that's not true: The image is fake and according to an AI detection website is 99 percent likely to have been generated by artificial intelligence. Trump's real mug shot was…