Pardons

Did President Joe Biden quietly pardon 2,617 BLM protesters in his first days in office? No, that's not true: The claim is a work of satire published by a web network that trolls conservatives. Biden did not issue any pardons in the days after his inauguration on January 20, 2021. The claim originated in an article published by dailyworldupdate.us on…

Is the White House pardons office soliciting Trump supporters involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection to apply for presidential pardons? No, that's not true: Parler posts posing as being from White House pardons attorneys were fake, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The pardons office "does not have a social media presence and is not involved in…

Did former Secretary of State and retired Army General Colin Powell urge "the U.S. military to recall [retired Army Lieutenant General] Michael Flynn and put him on military trial for sedition?" No, that's not true: There is no record of Gen. Powell attacking Lt. Genn. Flynn in such a public statement, but Powell's former chief of staff retired U.S. Army…

Did former President Richard M. Nixon pardon the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, on multiple charges including treason? No, this is not true. McCain -- who is hailed by many as a hero for his service and surviving captivity during the Vietnam War but who has been disparaged by President Trump -- was…

Did California Gov. Gavin Newsom pardon 1,342 prisoners so they couldn't be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents? No, that's not true: the article comes from a satirical news site, Newsom did not pardon that many people and a state pardon from Newsom would do little-to-nothing to protect immigrants in the United States without proper documentation from federal law…

If Donald Trump is impeached and Vice President Pence becomes president, could Pence name Trump as his vice president, then resign, making Trump president again and then Trump could make Pence vice president again? No, that's not true: It is a fantasy scenario that its creators claim would make "Liberal heads explode," but it ignores section two of the 25th…

Buzzfeed released an analysis of the top 50 fake news stories of 2017 which you should definitely read. Many of the stories in the list have been debunked at some point by Lead Stories so there are no surprises there for our regular readers but it is an interesting read nonetheless. Just for fun we decided to do a quick…

An article from satirical website World News Daily Report titled 'White man asked black friend to impregnate his wife to fight "white privilege"' went viral and was believed by many people to be real. It opened: Portland, OR | A Caucasian man has asked an African-American man to impregnate his wife because he felt ashamed of his "white privilege". Peyton…

An article on satirical/fake news website 'Real News Right Now' claims that Donand Trump reversed the pardons granted by Obama to five (according to the headline) or sixteen (according to the body of the text) turkeys. The story opens: In another sweeping move aimed at undoing the perceived damage done by the Obama administration, President Donald J. Trump signed an…

Being as it's April 1st (April Fools Day) we can expect to see a fair share of BS on social media today. Here is a hoax that Lead Stories detected which claims President Obama used executive action to remove marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, as well as pardoned all marijuana drug offenders. This story is completely UNTRUE and…