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Did New York state Attorney General Letitia James lose 80 percent of the civil fraud case against Donald Trump, as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The judge in the case did not dismiss any portion of the charges filed by James in New York against the former president, a legal expert told Lead Stories. Trump's legal…

Does U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have a net worth of $13 million as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: The district communication manager for Ocasio-Cortez told Lead Stories, "The claim is false." The post on X cited no sources nor did it indicate what the $13 million figure is based on. Ocasio-Cortez's latest official financial disclosure report…

Did Katie Hobbs "mysteriously" step down as governor of Arizona? No, that's not true: Hobbs left the state for one night to attend a meeting in Washington, D.C., her office said. State Treasurer Kimberly Yee announced on social media that she was the acting governor while Hobbs was out of state from September 27, 2023, to September 28, 2023. The…

Did the Arizona Senate bring indictments against Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Runbeck Election Services, banks and local police for election fraud and other crimes? No, that's not true: The Arizona Senate is not authorized to issue indictments, the state Senate GOP spokesperson told Lead Stories. The video shown in the social-media post that made the claim…

Did President Joe Biden misspeak while addressing a picket line of striking United Auto Workers (UAW) in Michigan on September 26, 2023, saying that while he had marched in other UAW picket lines it was the "first time I've ever done it in person"? No, that's not true: Biden was misquoted in a social media post. He was speaking into…

Did Reuters publish 2024 presidential election polling numbers that heavily favored former president and current candidate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Reuters has debunked the fake numbers and a map associated with the numbers. The map was created on a website that allows users to design their own "election forecast." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Does a social media post prove that a U.S. F-35 fighter jet landed safely "at the Chinese base in Cuba"? No, that's not true: The debris of an F-35 that vanished in September 2023 was found after a daylong search; its pilot had safely ejected before its crash. No official statements contradicted this version of events, and a national security…

Did President Joe Biden's family say he died and was replaced by an actor in 2019? No, that's not true: This article and accompanying video from The People's Voice is baseless. There is no member of the Biden family who has claimed that Joe Biden died in 2019 and was replaced with a body double. That claim arose from an…

Are the tweets between Michelle Obama and Donald Trump about "destroying the country" and inviting "Mike" to play basketball real? No, that's not true: No such tweets from the former first lady's official account nor the former president's were published on August 30, 2019. The messages currently do not show up on the accounts, nor do they show up on…

Did the state of California declare a "Trans History Month" before declaring a Women's History Month? No, that's not true: California first recognized Women's History Month in 1988, and the governor has proclaimed it every March since 1995. California is tentatively planning to celebrate its first Transgender History Month in August 2024, roughly 36 years after its first Women's History…

Did President Biden whisper "You're one sexy kid" in the ear of a child? No, that's not true: The audio had been edited. Lead Stories found the original video on TikTok and in it, Biden did not call the child "sexy." We also could not find any further evidence that this moment actually happened. The claim appeared on X, formerly…

Did 80-year-old President Joe Biden get lost in the U.S. Capitol building on September 14, 2023 and did he need a "security intervention" to find his way? No, that's not true: The video making this claim misrepresents a scene from Biden's February 2023 State of the Union address by replacing the original sound. The actual C-SPAN footage of the event…

Did President Joe Biden describe African-American and Hispanic workers and veterans as "workers without high school diplomas"? No, that's not true: He was talking about unemployment rates for different groups of people. "Workers without high school diplomas" was one of the categories. The phase was not referring to African-American and Hispanic workers. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Does a video shared to social media in September 2023 show Maui residents "being arrested for camping on the beach with nowhere to go" following the destructive wildfires that killed at least 115 people? No, that's not true: The video in question was filmed in 1985 as part of a documentary showcasing a group of houseless native Hawaiians in the…

Does a Pennsylvania judge's ruling in a state civil suit that Donald Trump's false election claims while in office are covered by presidential immunity also apply to his four criminal cases? No, that's not true: A law school professor called the claim in a video "misleading," telling Lead Stories that the "ruling did not find that former President Trump is…

Were 7 million people registered to vote in the 2020 general election in Wisconsin when only 4.5 million were eligible voters? No, that's not true: There were more than 3.9 million registered voters and an estimated 4.5 million eligible voters in that election, a Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) representative told Lead Stories. A version of the claim made by former…

Is a massive jump in Rep. Nancy Pelosi's net worth proof that she engaged in some sort of illegal activity? No, that's not true: Although it may be true that Pelosi's net worth has increased sharply since 2007, when she became the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, such an increase does not prove her gains were…

Do 222 contributions with "zero donor information" to the campaign of Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis prove there was fraud? No, that's not true: An Emory University political science professor emeritus told Lead Stories, "Looks like they're all very small donations for which donor info is not required under Georgia law." Other political scientists said the same. The…

Did President Joe Biden announce in September 2023 that his administration intends to "increase the number and intensity of the extreme weather events"? No, that's not true: A social media video used incomplete footage of a speech to imply that Biden intends to use weather wizardry to bolster fears about climate change. In remarks on September 2, 2023, Biden discussed…

Did the timing of President Joe Biden appointing a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director before the Maui fires and subsequently saying that director was already in Hawaii when the fires broke out confirm Biden knew the wildfires would occur? No, that's not true: Biden appointed Robert J. Fenton Jr., a regional administrator for FEMA, as chief federal response coordinator…