Nancy Pelosi

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bring a national flag with the "Nazi SS" symbol to Washington, D.C.? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media was flipped to distort the original inscription. The claim appeared in a post published on Facebook on December 23, 2022. It contained an image showing U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President…

Was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hanged at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba? No, that's not true: The claim was reported on a website well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site has a disclaimer warning readers not to take its content too seriously, as the site contains "humor, parody, and satire." The claim appeared in an…

Did the U.S. military arrest "several Deep Staters" who attended President Joe Biden's state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron on December 1, 2022? No, that's not true: The U.S. military is not allowed to arrest civilians. This claim comes from Real Raw News, a website that regularly produces fabricated headlines and articles. The claim appeared in an article published…

Did U.S. Special Forces take House Speaker Nancy Pelosi into custody after the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps charged her with "multiple counts of treason and seditious conspiracy"? No, that's not true: A representative of the U.S. Special Operations Command earlier denied to Lead Stories that Special Forces had arrested any civilian, and noted that the Special Forces do…

Were Nancy Pelosi and "other Deep Staters" arrested at a President Joe Biden banquet in a faux White House owned by filmmaker Tyler Perry? No, that's not true: No branch of the U.S. military is allowed to arrest civilians, per the Posse Comitatus Act. This claim comes from a website that regularly produces fabricated headlines and classifies themselves as a…

Did CNN publish an article or a news report stating that "Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by literally allowing people to speak freely"? No, that's not true: As of November 28, 2022, the CNN website had not published such a story, which originated from a satirical website overtly presenting itself as a "source of fake news." The…

Is Twitter owner Elon Musk charging journalists who use the non-gendered pronouns "they/them" $16 per month to secure a blue check verification -- twice the price as other users? No, that's not true: The claim is satire and neither Twitter nor Musk have announced a plan to double charges for nonbinary reporters. The claim appeared in a November 8, 2022,…

Did Instagram user @red.wave1776 acquire leaked audio that proves that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to resign? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has found no evidence on this Instagram user's account that would corroborate the claim. Also, there have been no reports of such audio by reputable media. The claim appeared in a screenshot of a tweet posted…

Did the Federal Reserve put up "walls" outside its building, possibly in anticipation of unrest? No, that's not true: The Federal Reserve is planning to renovate and expand two of its buildings in Washington, D.C. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on November 6, 2022. The tweet reads: The Federal Reserve Just Put Up Walls ... Everything is…

Does this video show House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being detained or arrested by U.S. marshals? No, that's not true: This is video of Pelosi leaving her home in San Francisco and getting into a GM Suburban SUV with a small security detail on October 30, 2022, as an onlooker shouts out, "Speaker, how's your husband doing?" The question referred to…