New Stimulus

Does a photograph of the Oval Office show a corner wall coming apart in the room, proving that it is a "film set" and not in the White House? No, that's not true. A picture of President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shows a well-documented door in the round-shaped room is slightly ajar. The vertical line…

Does this video show Joe Biden confused and not knowing where he was at the end of an event? No, that's not true: The edited excerpt from a video of the president-elect announcing members of his Science Team shows him pausing and looking around in silence as he leaves the stage. But raw footage of the event, which is crisper…

Does a letter published by the chairman of a Nevada county Republican Central Committee, disputing the outcome of the presidential election, include evidence for the conspiracy theories proposed? No, that's not true: the widely viral article cites several unproven and disproven conspiracy theories, including "vote dumps", servers in Germany switching votes, President Trump escaping Washington on a "Doomsday" plane and…

Does the recent legislation that funds aid to Americans economically hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic also provide tax dollars for "gender studies" in Pakistan? No, that's not true: Though they were voted on as one package, the COVID relief measures were part of a separate bill that was then bundled together with others to streamline end-of-the-year votes in Congress. The…

Did the Federal government unsuccessfully attempt to operate the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada after seizing over a tax debt? No, that's not true: The U.S. government did seize the famed house of ill repute twice, but in each instance it was sold at auction. The Mustang Ranch was seized by the government in a 1990 bankruptcy proceeding in 1990…

Several people reported to us that Facebook erroneously added a "Missing Context" warning notice to posts wishing people a "Merry Christmas". The notice included a link to our fact check about certain items that were supposedly in the "Stimulus Bill". We did not flag any of these posts as part of our work in Facebook's Third Party Fact Checking Partnership.…

Does the "new stimulus bill" include funding for the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center and more? No, that's not true: Funds for the Smithsonian and other cultural institutions were not part of the $900 billion COVID stimulus and relief package. They were part of the $1.4 trillion spending plan passed by the House and Senate to continue government operations through September 2021.…

Do all Canadians get $900 a week and all small businesses in Canada get a $40,000 loan, of which they only have to pay back $10,000 over five years? And did all Canadians previously receive $2,000 a month? Those claims are partially true, but they're missing context: They appear to refer to the country's response to COVID-19, but the funding…

Did the AARP spend millions of dollars on TV ads against Republicans? No, that's not true: The AARP is a federally approved non-profit organization that is legally prohibited from being involved in any political campaign in favor or against any candidate. That includes a prohibition against paying for political ads. Nor does the AARP sue the president individually, though the…

Is FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- giving away "free money" by sending $1,000 checks next week to everyone? No, that's not true: This started as a joke, but you might not realize it unless you click on a suspicious link that leads you to a photo of a gorilla flipping off the camera. The claim appeared in…