Qanon

Did Hillary Clinton face a military tribunal on April 8, 2021? No, that's not true. "The story is fabricated," the Defense Department press operations duty officer told Lead Stories via email on April 12, 2021. Lead Stories previously debunked the claim that Hillary Clinton was arrested by Navy SEALs in March 2021, with a U.S. Navy spokesperson on the record…

Are zombies created by COVID-19 and do the world's richest people drink the blood of tortured children? No, that's not true. A guest on the show of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, conspiracist Stephen Quayle, peddles multiple untrue claims about COVID-19. Lead Stories has previously debunked claims Quayle has made as well as claims about zombies, COVID-19 and accusations that the…

Did someone stage a grim scene: an open dump truck piled high with corpses in body bags, to present a false narrative about the COVID-19 pandemic? And was this staged scene revealed to be fake because a video captured one of the "dead bodies" smoking a cigarette? No, that's not true: This video clip was shot during the filming of…

Was Joe Biden rushed to the hospital April 5, 2021? No, that's not true. Joe Biden had not been hospitalized in days leading up to and including April 5, 2021. He spent Easter Sunday at Camp David, as a photo on his daughter Ashley Biden's Instagram account showed. There is a video of Biden returning to the White House on…

Did U.S. Special Forces arrest former Hillary Clinton campaign aides John Podesta and Huma Abedin? No, that's not true: There's no credible corroboration for an article that makes the claim, which rests on a purported single unnamed source. A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said the arrests did not happen. The website that published the story is known for…

Did President Donald Trump indict Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on his last day in office? No, that's not true. The claim was made without proof and the U.S. Constitution reserves indictment power to grand juries, not presidents. Barrett was, in fact, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Barrett took the oath of…

Was an aircraft carrier with 38 military jets deployed to the Suez Canal to the scene of the grounded container ship that conspiracy theorists claim was carrying trafficked children and nuclear weapons? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found the post's photo -- which was taken 30 years ago -- of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the National Archives.…

Does a new "X22 Report" video contain only factual and proven statements? No, that's not true: The video recycles familiar conspiracy theories, including disproven claims about a mass shooting and voter fraud in the 2020 election. It repeats allegations about Hunter Biden, Project Veritas and the ship stuck in the Suez Canal that are either not supported by publicly available…

Is a ship that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021, used for human and sex trafficking? Is there a connection between the ship and Hillary Clinton? No, that's not true: There's no publicly available evidence the container ship is involved in illegal trafficking activities, nor is there anything -- such as the ship's maritime call sign…

Is Richard Grenell the president of the United States and could you "prove" it by looking it up on Google? No and yes. No, Grenell is not and never has been the president. Yes, for a short time Google did prominently list Grenell as the president of the United States in a "knowledge panel" graphic appearing in search results. On…