Criminal Justice

Was the mechanism of the background check conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to screen potential gun owners changed in a way that now allows undocumented residents to buy and possess guns in the United States? No, that's not true: On December 27, 2023, the bureau, abbreviated as the ATF, categorically denied such a change. The…

Does a topless photo show New York Attorney General Letitia James? No, that's not true: This photo does not show James, but Stacey Plaskett, the U.S. delegate to Congress from the Virgin Islands, who was a victim of cybercrime. Two disgruntled ex-staffers pleaded guilty to federal cyber-related charges and were sentenced in 2018 for hacking her phone and disclosing private…

Did Pfizer recently agree to pay $2.3 billion for medical fraud, the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice and was this related to Covid-19 vaccination? No, that's not true: Pfizer did agree to pay such a settlement in 2009, but not in 2023. The settlement was for the misbranding of the anti-inflammatory…

Does California Senate Bill 553 make it illegal to confront or fight back against looters, burglars and shoplifters? No, that's not true: California SB 553 does not fine employees who confront shoplifters, the senator who sponsored the bill and legal experts told Lead Stories. It requires businesses to have a plan in place for employees to prevent workplace violence. The…

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 an unnamed source with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) disclose to Real Raw News that there are about 19,000 sealed indictments held on U.S. physicians and medical staff for criminally coercing patients to get the COVID-19 vaccine in an unlawful and unethical partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of…

Did the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden decide that "international sex trafficking of minors" was no longer an area of concern for prosecution? No, that's not true: A Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told Lead Stories that the suggestion that international child sex trafficking was not a priority for the administration is "false." The DOJ website no longer…

Was the wife of a former Burisma co-owner found dead after she had offered to disclose the firm's secrets she had accessed as an accountant? No, that's not true: According to her attorney, the woman is alive and well as of June 19, 2023, and she didn't work as an accountant for the company in question. The story originated from…

Did former President Barack Obama remove half a million pedophiles from government online databases? No, that's not true: The claim refers to changes in criminal record-keeping. The Trump administration issued the memo in February 2017 that more narrowly defined a "fugitive from justice" as a person with an arrest warrant who had also fled state lines. This resulted in 500,000…

Was a 19-year-old girl in Texas sentenced to "96 years in prison" after traveling across state lines to gain access to an abortion procedure? No, that's not true: The social media account that shared this post is a satirical one. Furthermore, Texas law enforcement officials did not publicly announce such an arrest and conviction, and no reputable media outlet covered…