Iran

Is "medical error" the third leading cause of death in the United States? No, that's not proven: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not include "medical error" in the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. For one thing, given the lack of a precise medical or legal definition for "medical error," it's difficult to…

Was a Florida court told that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota was recruited by Qatar, received money from that country, and passed "sensitive intel" to Iran through intermediates? Yes, but the statements were made in a deposition during a lawsuit that had nothing to do with Omar and no evidence was presented to prove it was truthful testimony. The lawsuit was…

Did this "Median U.S. Household Income" chart for 2019 show the estimated amounts earned by race and ethnic group, and was the data in this chart recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau? Yes, but it's lacking context. The chart is from the government, which separately tracks individual ethnic groups by household income, but the numbers are based on unofficial estimates…

Were Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails leaked to the public? No, that's not true: Several media outlets, including The Washington Post, CNN and BuzzFeed News, filed Freedom of Information Act requests to access copies of Fauci's office emails. As Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, courts have held that, barring certain exemptions, public official…

Does a TikTok video featuring multiple launching rockets show the Palestinian political and militant group Hamas launching rockets toward Tel Aviv, Israel during the 2021 hostilities over sites considered holy by Muslims and Jews? No, that's not true: The outdated video clip has circulated since at least 2018 with a variety of false captions about the location of the launch.…

Summary: Mike Lindell's video series allegedly proving fraud in the November 2020 elections relies heavily on digital evidence in the form of files and animations that Lindell claims show attacks on the U.S. election infrastructure coming from China and other places. Lindell has never acknowledged where these files and animations came from. Lead Stories traced them back to a website…

Did scientists find out that pistachios are the most melatonin-rich food ever recorded? No, that's not true: the study in question has only been done once and has questionable methods. Experts would say this is still an open issue and should not be considered settled science. The claim appeared in a February 17 2020, Facebook post (archived here) where it…

Does Mike Lindell's "Absolute Interference" video, his third that purports to prove 2020 election fraud, contain only proven statements? No, that's not true: It contradicts itself and recycles claims that have been debunked before, relying on discredited and anonymous guests who make unsubstantiated and disproven allegations. The video's orienting claim is that foreign and domestic actors hacked the election through…

Does this photo show someone's great-grandma who was a pioneering flight attendant in 1914? No, that's not true: It's actually a picture of the pop star Britney Spears on set for her music video, "Toxic." An example of the claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) from April 4, 2021 on Twitter. The picture included a caption that read: My…

Did U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, have an unflattering "photo" of her removed from Twitter? No, that's not true: First, it's not a photo. It's a caricature that depicts the congresswoman flashing a toothy grin, revealing an overbite and ample gum line. Second, it was still on Twitter and other social media as of February 18,…