Did National Guard commanders confiscate all ammunition and magazines from troops guarding the U.S. Capitol? No, that's not true: A claim has gone viral that the Biden transition team feared guard members loyal to President Trump "might kill Biden." But National Guard spokesman Maj. Matt Murphy told Lead Stories,"To our knowledge no one has removed any ammunition from those who…

Is this a photo of Nancy Pelosi being arrested by "U.S. Marshalls"? No, that's not true: This is a photo of Speaker Pelosi being escorted by what appear to be U.S. Capitol police as she returns to her office on January 13, 2021, the day of the latest impeachment hearings. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here), published on…

Did CBS News report on Twitter that a Florida man had been arrested for kidnapping 27 people and forcing them to play Yahtzee for 36 hours straight? No, that's not true: the widely viral screenshot of a tweet supposedly sent by @CBSNews is not real. The orange-haired, red-faced man in the mugshot in the tweet is actually a Louisiana man…

Did a broken link that included the word "Guantanamo" on the website of the Office of Military Commissions have any special significance? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the link, which took users to a dead page on the site of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, had any import at all. The federal court has…

Does this collection of photos show the inner workings of airplanes that spray "chemtrails" and has this information been "declassified"? No, that's not true: These photos do not show "chemtrail spraying equipment." The photos are either misidentified, are a joke, or are intentionally unidentified, but they have been presented in a false context allowing imaginations to run wild. There is…

Did an Emergency Broadcast Alert reveal Donald Trump invoked the Insurrection Act? No, that's not true: A video makes the baseless claim that President Donald J. Trump informed the mayor of Oklahoma City that the "Insurrection Act has been enacted," and that arrests of Democratic elected officials will begin immediately. There is no evidence the president has invoked the Insurrection…

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 the "What is Happening?" Instagram post offer some alarming news, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel resigning and also the unrelated matter of Italian officials interfering with the U.S. presidential elections? No, that's not true: Much of the post lacks context, such as including that Merkel announced in 2018 that she would not seek re-election as chancellor in 2021,…

Does Mike Lindell's interview on alleged election fraud contain only factual and proven statements? No, that's not true: The interview with the MyPillow CEO is based almost entirely on a discredited report. As Lead Stories has already debunked that report, this fact-check does not focus on its content. Rather, we look at what Lindell said about the report -- namely…

Did a viral photo of doctors and nurses in Italy, who were treating COVID-19 patients, show them holding up a sign, which begins "Jesus Stops this Virus"? No, that's not true: The sign doctors and nurses are holding in the original photo, on which this altered version is based, begins "Help us Stay at home," according to Google Translate. The…

Does an article posted by The American Report prove China and Russia hacked the 2020 Election and does it show IP addresses from China, Russia, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada and the Czech Republic hacking "PA, NV, MI, GA Battleground States"? No, that's not true: the article appears to rely on data screenshotted from an anonymously registered website launched on December…

Is John F. Kennedy Jr. actively working to expose his father's killers, even if it means he has to bring down the whole government? No, that's not true: JFK Jr. has been dead since crashing his small plane into the Atlantic Ocean on July 19, 1999. One common belief of QAnon followers is that the younger Kennedy is still alive…

Did the Marine Corps rebuke the Speaker of the U.S. House, telling her "We don't work for you," in response to a request for troops to protect the Capitol during the Inauguration? No, that's not true: Both the Marine Corps and the House Speaker's office say it never happened. The claim originated as an article published by Real Raw News…

Did an assortment of military combat helicopters, including Blackhawks and Ospreys, buzz Washington, D.C. on the morning of January 15, 2021 as shown in an online video? No, that's not true: The video posted on Friday that purported to be "50min ago" was shared months earlier on TikTok and appears to have been recorded at an airshow in Denmark at…

Did CNN issue a correction over a misidentified Qanon pin supposedly being worn by Ted Cruz that turned out to be a Dorito chip? No, that's not true: CNN never reported such a story in the first place and the image with the correction is fake. Cruz commented on the story himself on Twitter An example of the viral image…

Is this man clad in fur pelts and a police vest a "violent leftist" and Antifa member, videotaped participating when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol January 6, 2021? No, that's not true: In a video published on the New York Post website, Aaron Mostofsky said he believed Trump had won the election and that his…

Does Michael Flynn's interview with Alex Jones include only factual statements about the 2020 election? No, that's not true: The interview repeats disproven allegations of foreign interference, that thousands of dead people voted in Pennsylvania and that Donald Trump won up to 400 Electoral College votes. All are demonstrably false. Flynn's interview (archived here) with Jones -- a well-known conspiracy…

Were two CNN journalists arrested and charged for infiltrating the U.S. Capitol dressed as Trump supporters during the January 6, 2021 insurrection? No, that's not true: The two people identified in a video as being with CNN have no connection to the news network. One of them -- John Sullivan -- has been arrested and charged with federal crimes relating…

Was the inauguration cancelled; will Donald Trump remain in office; and will ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC all lose their licenses? No, none of that is true: A made-up story containing those claims and predictions was written by a discredited conspiracy writer and published by 'Before It's News', a news platform that lets anyone write and publish what they…

Did Donald Trump settle multiple child rape cases for millions of dollars? No, that's not true: A claim has gone viral again that there is a list of payments Trump made to settle rape accusations brought against him by male and female minors. There is no evidence of the cases ever having been filed against Trump and no proof the…