Does a photo on social media show Georgia's U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, clad in a jumpsuit, walking in front of a line of women wearing penis pants? No, that's not true: The image is of a Nigerian celebrity attending a funeral in Nigeria for a music executive's mother in October 2022. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on…

Was a Phoenix affiliate of Fox News part of an attempt to defraud voters by calling the Arizona governor's race 12 days before Election Day? No, that's not true: While the affiliate, Fox 10 Phoenix, did accidentally air a graphic in late October that showed Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs defeating Republican candidate Kari Lake by six points, the station acknowledged…

Does a filing on the Florida Secured Transaction Registry show that Anthony Fauci, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and many other public servants are involved with a diamond business in Sulphur, Oklahoma? No, that's not true: There is no business by that name registered in Oklahoma. The Registry filing made by Paul Michael Walters does not appear to be a record…

Did the U.S. Army Cyber Command find evidence that immigrants lacking permanent legal status in Colorado used fraudulent state identification cards to vote for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a webpage that is known for publishing satirical, fake takes on real people and issues in U.S. news and politics. The claim…

Did CNN report that Donald Trump died of autoerotic asphyxiation? No, that's not true: "It's a fabricated image and not anything CNN reported," a CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories. The post appears to be a joke since former President Donald Trump is alive, as of this writing. He took part in a live national radio show on November 3, 2022.…

Did the Instagram account @_The.Republican.Party_ publish the full list of Jeffrey Epstein's "clients"? No, that's not true: A social media post claiming to reveal the "full list of Elite Clientele that were present on Epstein island" is nothing more than clickbait. Though the Epstein black book of celebrities is an authentic and consequential piece of information that may be made…

Does the Republican "Commitment to America" say they will take Social Security away from disabled veterans, and raise the age for Medicare to 75 and take it away at 90? No, that's not true: The image of the plan proposed by Republicans led by Kevin McCarthy in the House of Representatives is not the real plan. The minority leader's website…

Did Sen. Josh Hawley say the phrase "I will not use your pronoun" while questioning a "liberal general" at a U.S. Senate hearing? No, that's not true: Neither a video published on Facebook under this attention-grabbing headline nor the full recording contained this sentence. Participants in the hearing referred to each other by title or rank combined with their last…

Does former President Donald Trump get a tax break for his golf course where his ex-wife, Ivana Trump, is buried? No, that's not true: The small portion of the property at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster where Ivana Trump is buried was previously farmland and exempt from taxes. However, now that it began use as a cemetery taxes will…

Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi call on the Federal Reserve to "ban the new Trump $2 bill"? No, that's not true: This bill does not exist, and Nancy Pelosi did not tweet anything about it. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) on October 6, 2022. It was published by the account of donaldtrump_2024, which describes itself as…

Did Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner pocket $640 million in jobs as advisers to former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Both Trump and Kushner worked at the White House on a pro bono (unpaid) basis, although they earned millions from business interests outside government. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on August 12, 2022. It…

Was Barron Trump kicked out of school because his tuition had not been paid? No, that's not true: This clickbait title for a video is false. The title's claim is not discussed in the video, which contains a montage of stock photos with a robo voice-over reading articles from a tabloid website. The video was posted on Facebook Watch by…

Did no Republicans thank U.S. President Joe Biden for taking out the leader of Al Qaeda? No, that's not true: Several GOP members of Congress publicly acknowledged Biden for the July 31, 2022 drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda and one of the conspirators behind 9/11. The claim was shared on a…

Did Pope Francis slap Donald Trump's hand away when Trump tried to hold his hand? No, that's not true: The pope and Trump did meet at the Vatican on May 24, 2017, but the hand-touching clip is not real. That clip is from "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a late-night TV talk show. A good indicator that this clip is fake is…

Did Rep. Elise Stefanik angrily call Rep. Adam Schiff a "lying son of a bitch" during a meeting in Congress? No, that's not true: This post has a clickbait headline apparently to draw attention to a Facebook page. In only a portion of the video in this post, Stefanik criticized Schiff during her remarks over a whistleblower in a 2019…

Does this video show Russian tanks abandoned in the Kharkiv Region during the September 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive that overran Russian positions in northeastern Ukraine? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has corroborated open-source investigators' use of Google Maps satellite images to identify the long industrial building as being on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, more than 300 miles distant from Ukraine's…

Is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "set to resign" as former President Donald Trump "files impeachment lawsuits against her"? No, that's not true: The headline that contains this claim is for a video posted on Facebook that does not feature Trump announcing "impeachment lawsuits" against her. Under the U.S. Constitution, former presidents cannot sue for the impeachment of the House speaker…

Does a viral clip of an old "American Idol" audition show U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene? No, that's not true: The woman in the video "obviously isn't her," a spokesman for Greene told Lead Stories. The woman belting her heart out was identified on the show as Stefanie Sugarman, a then-23-year-old from Los Angeles. The claim appeared in a tweet…

Does a Facebook video capture a scene showing Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina demanding that FBI Director Christopher Wray disclose the name of the person who ordered the raid of Donald Trump's residence in Florida? No, that's not true: The clip simply doesn't contain the exchange promised in its headline. The claim appeared in a Facebook post published…

Did a waitress at a diner hold a Dr. Mehmet Oz campaign sign so that it would read "NO"? No, that's not true: The picture with the "NO" sign has been edited. On Oz's verified social media accounts, the sign is much smaller and is being held the correct way. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on August 28,…