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Joe Biden threatened to assassinate Ukraine’s former president Did President Joe Biden threaten to kill a Ukrainian head of state in 2016? Edited snippets from a 2016 phone call between Bidenand then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are being framed as if the then-U.S. vice president had murderous intent. He didn’t. "BREAKING," a description of the Nov. 16, 2016, call says in a recent Facebook post. "Leaked audio from days after the 2016 election, before Trump’s inauguration — Biden calls Poroshenko, then head of state of Ukraine, and threatens him with assassination if he cooperates with the incoming Trump administration." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The Facebook post shows a clip of a One America News Network broadcast in 2020, when a Ukrainian lawmaker with links to Russian intelligence released edited fragments of private phone calls between Biden and Poroshenko. Although these phone call snippets are circulating on social media as if they were just leaked — they weren’t; they were leaked in 2020. "This is getting very, very close to what I don’t want to happen," Biden can be heard saying on the One America News segment. "I don’t want Trump to get into a position where he thinks he’s about to buy on to a policy where the financial system is going to collapse and he’s going to be looked to pour more money into Ukraine. That’s how he’ll think about it before he gets sophisticated enough to know the detail." The clip cuts to an One America News broadcaster and then back to Biden: "So, anything you can do to push PrivatBank to closure so that the IMF loan comes forward, I would respectfully suggest is critically important to your economic as well as physical security." Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 16, 2022 in an Instagram post Kid Rock posted “Zelensky just bought his parents an $8,000,000 villa, complete with a salt water pool & 3 brand new vehicles.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 17, 2022 Ukraine nationalized PrivatBank, the country’s largest lender in Ukraine, a month after the call. This recording, among other heavily edited fragments of phone calls between Biden and Poroshenko that were released in 2020, was widely covered by the media when it was leaked, and no credible sources then suggested that Biden had threatened to kill Ukraine’s president. "Biden encouraged Poroshenko to take action on Ukraine’s undercapitalized PrivatBank to avoid trouble with the new U.S. president," the Kyiv Post reported. Biden "told Poroshenko to set a date to take action on PrivatBank in order to receive a new tranche of aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He termed this a matter of ‘economic as well as physical security’ for Ukraine." The White House released a summary of the call the same day it happened, saying that among other issues, the leaders "discussed Ukraine’s reform trajectory and emphasized the need for continued swift progress, including steps needed to secure Ukraine’s next tranche of IMF funding." Biden, among other presidents, has used the term "physical security" regularly. In August, for example, Biden talked in a speech to the Democratic National Committee about the United States’ need to plan its direction wisely to ensure "economic, political and physical security." As in the leaked phone call, Biden, speaking June 30 at a press conference in Madrid after a NATO summit, tied funding from the U.S. to aid Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion to the country’s physical security. "But for it to end, they have to be in a position where … the Ukrainians have all that they can reasonably expect, we can reasonably expect to get to them, in order to … provide for their physical security and their defenses," he said. We rate claims Biden threatened to assassinate a former Ukrainian president Pants on Fire!

“Starbucks just announced that they’re going cashless. Rumors recently spread online that Starbucks will no longer accept cold, hard cash as payment for its ice-cold coffee, but the company says that’s not true. On Instagram, one user wrote, "Starbucks just announced that they’re going cashless." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) News outlets in the United Kingdom have reported that the confusion started as an image of a sign with a Starbucks logo was shared among British users online. "We’re going cashless," the sign said. "From 1st October 2022 we will only be accepting card, contactless & Starbucks rewards payments." The U.S. activist group Young Americans for Liberty shared the image on Facebook, writing, "Too many people have no idea how dystopian a ‘cashless society’ is going to be." Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 12, 2022 in a Facebook post “Trump woken up from his bed by police.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 14, 2022 The claims inspired Starbucks’ verified Twitter account in the United Kingdom to tweet for the first time since November 2021. "Starbucks has no plans to go cashless across our UK stores," the Aug. 30 tweet said. "We operate alongside various licensee business partners in the UK, so this may vary from store to store and the majority of our stores continue to offer cash payment options." In 2018, in the United States, a Starbucks in Seattle tested a cashless store to see how digital and credit card payments affected customer behavior and experience, CNBC reported. In May 2020, not long after the coronavirus pandemic began, Starbucks’ then-CEO Kevin Johnson said in a letter to "Starbucks partners and customers" that the company would "shift toward more cashless experiences, knowing that the handling of cash creates consumer concerns about the spread of viruses." But a blog post on the company’s website clarified several months later that "cash is always an option, too." We rate claims that Starbucks is going cashless False.

“Harvard is sitting on top of a $54 billion hedge fund they call an ‘endowment’ that they pay zero taxes on. Yale has $31 Billion. Stanford $29 Billion. Princeton $26 Billion. Millions of Americans expressed relief when President Joe Biden announced a long-awaited plan to forgive thousands of dollars in student loan debt. But not everyone was pleased. Some people used the occasion to spotlight academic institutions — especially those with large endowments — as needlessly untapped sources of funds. "Harvard is sitting on top of a $54 BILLION hedge fund they call an ‘endowment’ that they pay zero taxes on," tweeted Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA. "Yale has $31 Billion. Stanford $29 Billion. Princeton $26 Billion. ‘Elite’ schools sit on a goldmine but the middle class will foot the bill for student loan forgiveness." Harvard is sitting on top of a $54 BILLION hedge fund they call an "Endowment" that they pay zero taxes onYale has $31 Billion. Stanford $29 Billion. Princeton $26 Billion."Elite" Schools sit on a goldmine but the Middle Class will foot the bill for Student Loan Forgiveness— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 24, 2022 An endowment is a group of donation-supported investments a college or university uses as a source of long-term funding. There is debate about how much institutions with very large endowments should spend, but some legal requirements dictate how endowment payouts can be used. The numbers Kirk cited are in the ballpark. But his tweet oversells the liquidity and versatility of these endowments. They are not cash reserves that schools can draw on without restriction. The tweet also misleads about taxation — the largest of these endowments have been taxed by the federal government since a 2017 law went into effect, though the institutions themselves opposed it. Some universities have very large endowments Some universities, including the ones Kirk listed, have endowments valued at several billion dollars. In 2021, universities reported endowments valued at: $53.2 billion for Harvard University; $42.3 billion for Yale University; $37.8 billion for Stanford University; and $37.7 billion for Princeton University. Kirk’s numbers appear to reflect reported values in 2020, when Yale’s endowment was about $31.2 billion, Stanford’s was $28.9 billion and Princeton’s was $26.6 billion. Andrew Kolvet, a Kirk spokesperson, said private equity tends to perform better than the stock market, so it’s possible Harvard’s endowment could now exceed $54 billion. Harvard attributed significant endowment returns in 2021 to private and public equity markets. Calling an endowment a ‘hedge fund’ is a misnomer Hedge funds pool investors’ money and invest it in an effort to earn a positive return, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. An endowment is a pool of donated funds meant to be invested to maximize returns, but its purpose is more specific: An endowment’s returns are meant to support education at the institution in perpetuity. Each year, endowment investments accrue returns that are used one of two ways. Some are retained in the endowment so it will continue to grow and support the university in the future. Some are used to support the institution’s budget. Featured Fact-check Joe Biden stated on October 23, 2022 in a forum with Now This Student loan forgiveness is “passed. I got it passed by a vote or two. And it’s in effect.” By Louis Jacobson • October 25, 2022 Universities use endowment distributions to support professorships, financial aid for undergraduates, academic programs, libraries, art museums and other facilities and activities. A percentage of an endowment’s annual payouts are subject to donor-imposed restrictions that require money to support specific programs, departments or purposes. These restrictions limit an institution's ability to access and spend endowment distributions. Endowment funds are often invested in hedge funds to maximize returns, but they are not hedge funds themselves. The National Association of College and University Business Officers’ survey of 720 university endowments found that 17% of endowment funds are invested in hedge funds, on average. Managers of larger nonprofit endowments typically invest in more private equity and venture capital, said Liz Clark, the association’s vice president for policy and research. Larger endowments also allocate more funds to marketable alternatives such as hedge funds, she said. The research shows that institutions with endowments over $1 billion are more likely to allocate a higher proportion of their investments to those marketable alternatives. In 2021, Harvard reported that 33% of its assets were invested in hedge funds, for example. Still, a person who invests in a mutual fund is not a mutual fund. The same is true of endowments, said Sandy Baum, a senior fellow on education data and policy at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group. Institutions want to maximize returns on their endowment, "but the purpose of the endowment is to fund the education of current and future students at the institution," Baum said. Endowment investment returns are taxed Kirk’s assertion that these funds are not taxed is wrong. Since a 2017 change in law, some private colleges and universities have seen their endowments’ investment return income subjected to a 1.4% excise tax. The tax was part of a Republican-backed tax overhaul signed into law by President Donald Trump. Before that, university endowments were largely untaxed. The excise tax applies to colleges with endowments larger than $500,000 per student. Experts said it is unclear exactly how many universities have been subject to this tax, but a 2018 Urban Institute report said the tax impacts 25 to 30 institutions that together "enroll fewer than 150,000" of the nation’s 20 million postsecondary students. In 2022, The Intercept reported that the tax affects over 40 private universities. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the tax would raise $200 million annually, Bloomberg News reported. In 2019, Harvard University faced a $50 million total federal tax bill, with about $37.7 million of that amount stemming from the endowment tax. The university’s operating budget that year was about $5.4 billion. Stanford University said it faced a tax bill of about $43 million for fiscal year 2019 because of the new tax. The school’s operating budget was $6.8 billion. Federal tax revenue goes directly to the U.S. Treasury when collected; most federal spending comes from general Treasury funds, Clark said. Harvard and other wealthy private universities are lobbying for changes to or a repeal of the excise tax, The Intercept and Inside Higher Ed reported. The universities argue that endowments are crucial for funding financial aid programs, and any tax on endowment returns reduces their capacity to support low-income students. Our ruling Kirk tweeted, "Harvard is sitting on top of a $54 billion hedge fund they call an ‘Endowment’ that they pay zero taxes on. Yale has $31 Billion. Stanford $29 Billion. Princeton $26 Billion." Kirk was in the ballpark about the size of these endowments, though his numbers might be slightly outdated; the most recent numbers show they’re even bigger. But calling such an endowment a "hedge fund" is a misnomer. Endowment funds are often partially invested in hedge funds to maximize returns, but they are not hedge funds themselves. His claim that these large endowments are entirely untaxed is wrong: Institutions like those he cited in the tweet have been paying a modest but real 1.4% excise tax on their investment returns since a 2017 change in tax law. We rate this claim Half True

Another continent may exist beneath Antarctica, which is also home to homicidal sea creature of unknown origi There could be another continent below Antarctica. Not only that, but a giant squid-like creature lurks nearby, deep in the Antarctic Ocean, at least according to a blog called "Alien News". And there’s more: The creature has already killed three scientists — and Russian intelligence knows the secret behind it all. So says the supposed news blog shared in an Aug. 24 Facebook post stating, "Russia tells the world that Antarctica Is NOT what (it) seems." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) First, let’s consider the claim that a "brand-new species" of squid, referred to in the article as "Organism 46B," purportedly living far beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica and preying on a team of Russian scientists trying to study it. The earliest mention we could find of the so-called "Organism 46B" is a September 2012 satirical news story by author C. Michael Forsyth. He wrote for Weekly World News, which published fictional news stories from 1979 to 2007 that centered on paranormal themes and American folklore. Forsyth’s article was republished on a personal blog page, where it’s clearly labeled fictitious. It describes "a highly intelligent octopuslike creature that claimed the lives" of three Russian scientists who discovered it. In reality, Antarctica, which is Earth’s most southerly continent and whose gargantuan and sprawling ice shelves contain about 80% of the world’s freshwater, is home to various lesser-known critters, including krill, crustaceans and, yes, really big squids — but no squid that has ever been known to prey on humans. We’re referring to the aptly named colossal squid, aka Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, described by the nonprofit marine-life advocacy group, Oceana, as a "massive squid that lives in the deep sea surrounding Antarctica" and is "the largest invertebrate on Earth." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 30, 2022 in a photo “There are no greenhouse gas emissions in this photo” of cows grazing. By Kristin Hugo • November 7, 2022 Colossal squid can measure up to nearly 50 feet long and weigh more than 1,000 pounds, according to Oceana. But colossal squid do not emit any kind of poisonous venom that paralyzes their prey. They have tentacles "covered with suckers that are equipped with strong, sharp hooks, used in both capturing prey and fighting off predation," the Museum of New Zealand says on its website. It’s unknown how many of the creatures exist, as sightings are exceedingly rare, considering the squid live thousands of feet below the Antarctic Ocean’s surface and have been found as far as the southern waters of New Zealand, according to the museum. In searching news archives, we also found no mention of fatal attacks carried out on humans by this particular species of squid. As for the other claim that another continent exists beneath Antarctica, evidence-based science tells us that’s impossible. Andrew Campbell, a University of Chicago geophysics professor, explained why in a PolitiFact interview once before: The planet’s total mass has a far greater density than its crust alone, coming in at 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter on average (counting all the mass of the planet) compared with 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter on average for rocks in the crust. If Earth were hollow and there were a civilization below the crust, the planet’s mass would need a lower density than the rocks in the crust. And that’s just not the case. Our ruling A Facebook post suggested another continent may exist beneath Antarctica, which is also home to homicidal sea creature of unknown origin referred to as "Organism 46B." "Organism 46B" is a fictional creature. And there is no evidence of "another continent" beneath Antarctica. We rate these claims Pants on Fir

The National Guard was activated Jan. 6, 2021, and “is in complete control. Did former President Donald Trump order the National Guard to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and never call it off? If so, is the National Guard governing the country on Trump’s mandate even though he’s long been out of office? A Facebook post wants you to believe it. "The National Guard were activated to federal duty on Jan 6 & 17, 2021," a Facebook post, which adds Jan. 17 for an unknown reason, reads. "Those orders have NOT been rescinded. The military is in COMPLETE control." The post suggests that the U.S. military "is in complete control" of the government because Trump activated the National Guard on Jan. 6, 2021, and left office without changing his guidance. The post, which bullet points U.S. Code sections that authorize presidents to deploy the National Guard to repel invasions and Marbury v. Madison, a Supreme Court case that established judicial review, implies that the Trump-deployed Guard, and not President Joe Biden, is in charge of government. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) There is no record of Trump authorizing or requesting any National Guard members be sent anywhere on Jan. 6, as PolitiFact previously reported, and as members of Trump’s administration have said during House select committee hearings. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 27, 2022 in a post Video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene planted pipe bombs at Republican and Democratic party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. By Gabrielle Settles • October 31, 2022 Here’s what did happen that day, according to a Jan. 7, 2021, statement by the U.S. Defense Department. Sometime after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, at Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request, then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller "called up 1,100 members of the D.C. National Guard" to support the D.C. Metropolitan and Capitol Hill police. Then, on the evening of Jan. 6, Miller authorized mobilizing up to 6,200 National Guard members from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia to "flow into the city over the next few days and will help secure the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joseph Biden on Jan. 20," the statement read. What about the assertion that the National Guard is in charge? The National Guard answers to the government, specifically state governors, during peacetime, not the other way around. The National Guard, a U.S. military component consisting of 440,000 members of the Army National Guard and Air National Guard, is generally sent to respond to state-level emergencies, such as natural disasters, but can also serve missions overseas. Though presidents have sometimes called in the Guard to quell civil unrest, Trump is no longer president and would no longer have this power. Is there a covert plot? The post uses a screenshot of ADS–B Exchange — a free, publicly accessible aircraft tracker that documents the paths of commercial, private and military aircraft — to suggest that because military aircraft are shown flying over states beyond their home bases, Trump is ordering their movement or the armed forces are operating on their own. Neither of these things is true. Biden, as commander in chief, commands the armed forces. Our ruling A Facebook post uses out-of-context screenshots from an aircraft flight tracker and false information about the National Guard’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to claim that the U.S. military "is in complete control" of the national government. This is untrue and unsupported by evidence. We rate this claim Pants on Fir

“In Arizona, we have flood the zone with fake ballots. Republican Mark Finchem is running for the job of Arizona’s top elections official while vowing to largely ditch the most popular way of casting a ballot: by mail. Finchem said he favored West Virginia’s approach to mailing ballots, which requires voters to request to receive their ballots by mail in advance. "I am a fan of the West Virginia model, which is absentee ballots opt-in," Finchem said in an Aug. 25 radio interview. "In Arizona, we have flood the zone with fake ballots." Finchem didn’t explain his definition of "fake ballots" or respond to our email seeking his evidence. But his claim leaves the misleading impression that Arizonans have received ballots they didn’t request. That’s wrong. Arizona is not one of the states that sends all voters a mail ballot. Voters must "opt in" to receive a mail ballot for a specific election or on a continuing basis. Finchem is part of a national coalition of candidates seeking to upend common voting practices while denying the reality that Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020. Finchem has supported a series of anti-democratic proposals, such as giving the state Legislature the power to accept or reject election results. In November, Finchem will face Democrat Adrian Fontes, former Maricopa County Recorder. Voting by mail has been popular in Arizona for decades Voting by mail has existed in Arizona for more than a century, and it is used by both major parties. In 1991, the state established a law to allow any voter to cast a ballot by mail without an excuse, such as being sick or out of town. It grew so popular that county officials persuaded the state in 2007 to create a permanent early voting list so that voters could sign up to get a mail ballot for each election. In 2021, the state Legislature passed a law to make it easier to remove voters from that list. Starting in 2027, if voters don’t vote by mail in at least one election within two consecutive election cycles, they will be removed from the active early voting list. Ballots received early make up between 70% to 80% of ballots cast in Arizona, said Paul Bentz, who does public opinion surveys at HighGround, a Phoenix consulting company. "Certainly, there were portions of Republicans who changed their behavior and chose to drop off their ballot on Election Day or vote in person at a polling place, but a vast majority of Republicans still chose to vote early and will continue to do so in the general election," Bentz said. That applies to Finchem’s supporters, too. During the primary, about three of every four voters who cast a ballot for Finchem did so early, which is mostly by mail. Voters in West Virginia must have an excuse to vote absentee, such as being out of town or confined for medical reasons. Nearly half of voters in West Virginia cast an absentee ballot in the 2020 primary, amid COVID-19. But usually less than 3% vote this way, said Mike Queen, a spokesperson for the West Virginia secretary of state. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 25, 2022 in an Instagram post The documentary “2,000 Mules proves” Democrats “cheated on the 2020 elections.” By Jon Greenberg • October 28, 2022 Election experts dispute the idea of ‘fake ballots’ Arizona may have a more permissive mail voting law, but Finchem is wrong to suggest that it is not an "opt in" state. Voters either sign up for the active list to regularly get mail ballots or for a mail ballot for a specific election. In Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, voters can request a one-time mail ballot by phone or mail. For the active early voting list, voters sign up online or download the form and submit it in person. Every current elected official in Arizona has been elected primarily by mail ballots, said Alex Gulotta, Arizona state director of All Voting is Local, a voting rights group. There is no nefarious or illegal "flooding" of the zone. The form to request a mail ballot requires voters to provide multiple pieces of identifying information including their name, address, birth date, and driver's license or last four digits of their Social Security number. By collecting that information, county officials can verify that the ballot request is legitimate. Voting by mail is popular in Arizona for a few reasons, said Pinny Sheoran, president of the League of Women Voters of Arizona. The weather is hot in Arizona, so some voters spend part of the year in another state (and wouldn’t be in town for the primary election, usually held in August). Other voters don’t want to miss work. Some voters find it more convenient to vote from home, where they can research the candidates leisurely with the ballot in hand. If Finchem’s comment about "fake ballots" is interpreted to mean a counterfeit ballot, that is also nonsense. A ballot will not be counted if it is fake. Election officials verify signatures on mail ballot envelopes before counting them, another security step. "The mail system does not permit false votes to be counted because the signature won't match the registered voter's signature," said Paul Bender, an Arizona State University law professor. Voters can sign up for free alerts from county election officials to ensure their ballot is safe and counted. In Maricopa, voters get texts when their ballot is on the way to them. Once voters mail in their ballot, they get texts telling them when it is received and counted. Voters are also alerted if there is a problem, such as a missing or mismatched signature. Our ruling Finchem said, "In Arizona, we have flood the zone with fake ballots." Although he did not explain his definition of "fake ballots," Finchem’s description suggests that ballots are mailed out en masse to voters that did not request them. But that’s now how it works — and there’s no evidence of pervasive fraud or fakery. Arizona voters must take steps to receive a mail ballot, whether it’s for a specific election or a continuing basis. Finchem’s statement is an inaccurate and ridiculous summation that could discourage voter participation in a legitimate process. We rate this claim Pants on Fire! RELATED: Why the ‘stop the steal’ Arizona Republicans are wrong about 2020 RELATED: No proof for pro-Trump conspiracy theory of secret watermarks on Ariz. ballots RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Arizo

Student debt relief is taxable by the Internal Revenue Service President Joe Biden plans to provide up to $20,000 in college loan debt relief to millions of Americans, causing some to suggest on social media that recipients might get an unexpected tax bill from the IRS next April. The feds won’t be coming for a share of the cash. But it’s possible some states will, one analysis said. "All those college kids that got their student loans forgiven better look at this," read a Facebook post on Aug. 25. "The forgiven amount is still taxable and must be reported to the IRS as income. If they think the interest rates are bad with their school loans, wait until they see the IRS interest rates." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post shows a screenshot of an IRS webpage about canceled debt, with this sentence on the image circled in red: "In general, if you have cancellation of debt income because your debt is canceled, forgiven, or discharged for less than the amount you must pay, the amount of the canceled debt is taxable and you must report the canceled debt on your tax return for the year the cancellation occurs." Biden announced on Aug. 24 a plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 or couples making less than $250,000. The canceled amount doubles to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants who qualify, with the same income restrictions. Normally, the info from the IRS webpage would apply, and taxpayers who receive debt relief must report the amount of the forgiven loan as taxable income to the IRS. However, a White House fact sheet states that the debt relief won’t be considered as taxable income at the federal level. "Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, this debt relief will not be treated as taxable income for the federal income tax purposes," according to the fact sheet. In section 9675 of that law, it states that the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to add a "special rule for discharges in 2021 through 2025," and states that discharges of "any loan provided for postsecondary educational expenses" will not be counted as gross income. Because debt forgiveness has typically been considered taxable income, a lender forgiving a debt would usually send a 1099-C form both to the IRS and the taxpayer. It's not clear whether that will still happen in this scenario, experts we contacted said. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Not everyone is completely off the hook when it comes to taxes, though. Certain states may consider the loan forgiveness as taxable income. According to an analysis from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based think tank, six states — Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Wisconsin — could tax the money based on their current laws. That number could shrink if those states choose to make legislative changes before the spring to conform with federal tax law, or if the states determine administratively to not count the debt forgiveness as taxable income, the analysis said. The analysis was first published Aug. 25 and initially said up to 13 states could tax the loan forgiveness amount. But an Aug. 30 update, reflected statements issued by state officials and noted that the initial post relied on slightly out-of-date data. Efforts are already underway in at least two of those states to make changes so that the loan forgiveness is not taxable. In Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Revenue told Milwaukee TV station WTMJ it will ask the Republican-led Legislature to change its tax law to align with the IRS. Minnesota’s Department of Revenue said on its website that the loan forgiveness would be taxable under current law, but the chair of the Senate Taxes Committee told Minneapolis TV station KARE-11 she would seek a special session to address the issue. Our ruling A Facebook post warned that student debt relief is taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. A provision in the 2021 American Rescue Plan excludes student loan relief from being taxed at the federal level through 2025. Six states could count the discharged loan amount as taxable income if they don’t make changes to their laws before next spring. We rate this Fals

Instagram’s "precise location" feature can be used by criminals to target victims Sometimes, Instagram users tout their whereabouts — look, everyone, I’m at the beach! — and use location tags to signal precisely where they are. But a viral, unfounded claim said the app is unwittingly using a particular location setting to help criminals target victims. "Since a new update, people can find your EXACT location from Instagram and this is being used by individuals to target people to commit crimes including theft, stalking etc.," an Aug. 25 post read. It warned users to turn off their phones’ "precise location" settings. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its platforms. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Can just anyone discern your exact location using a single Instagram setting, even if you don’t want it revealed? No. "We don’t share your location with others," Instagram said in a post on the app on Aug. 26. "Similar to other social media companies, we use the precise location for things like location tags and maps features. People can manage Location Services via their device settings, and tag locations on their posts if they want to share that information." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Instagram’s @Creators (@creators) Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 Users have the option to turn off the location setting on their phones. Some apps do require your precise location, though — so if you turn off location services, your ride-share or pizza order might not be able to reach you. Contrary to the claim, "precise location" isn’t a new feature from Instagram. It was already included in phone systems from both Apple, which unveiled the setting in 2020, and Android, which did the same in 2021. Precise location gives users more control over which apps have access to their whereabouts, according to an Aug. 12, 2020, story by 9to5, a daily news site about Apple. "A lot of apps don’t actually need such precise location information, and iOS 14 offers that flexibility, including asking the user upfront in the permissions dialog," the story said. The setting works the same for Android phones. Our ruling An Instagram post claimed that Instagram’s "precise location" feature can be used by criminals to target victims. Instagram uses location settings for tags and map features. But the app won’t share precise locations or addresses unless users opt to do so. We rate this claim Fals

Moderna’s lawsuits against Pfizer-BioNTech shows COVID-19 vaccines were in the works before the pandemic started Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging its rivals used vaccine technology that Moderna developed years ago. But some social media users are pointing to the lawsuits as proof the COVID-19 vaccine was created before the pandemic started. "Thumbs up if you knew this all along," read an Aug. 26 Instagram post that used screenshots of news articles about the COVID-19 vaccine and the lawsuit to suggest a pre-pandemic vaccine conspiracy. The first screenshot was of a Sept. 16, 2021 fact-check by Reuters with the headline, "COVID-19 vaccine was not being developed before the outbreak." The second screenshot showed an Aug. 26 CNBC article with the headline, "Moderna sues Pfizer/BioNTech for patent infringement over Covid vaccine." A third screenshot called attention to part of the CNBC article that said the Moderna lawsuit alleges Pfizer and BioNTech "copied (vaccine) technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) mRNA vaccine technology was developed before the COVID-19 pandemic Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech both used messenger RNA technology, or mRNA technology, to develop their COVID-19 vaccines. This technology dates back to the 1990s, but the first time mRNA vaccines were widely disseminated was to combat the spread of COVID-19. Vaccines using mRNA technology give the body’s cells directions for how to make a harmless spike protein, which is what’s on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The immune system of a person who receives an mRNA vaccine can then spot unknown proteins and make antibodies to fight off an infection. Scientists began the first trials for the COVID-19 vaccine in March 2020. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in December 2020. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines were used to study viruses, such as the flu, Zika and rabies. Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 16, 2022 in an Instagram post “Covid vaccinations now prohibited in people under 50 in Denmark.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 18, 2022 Vaccines that don’t use mRNA technology are generally made from dead and inactivated viruses or parts of a living virus that have been weakened. Why Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech On Aug. 26, Moderna filed two patent infringement lawsuits, alleging that Pfizer and BioNTech had used key features of Moderna’s technology to make their own COVID-19 vaccine. One lawsuit was filed in District Court in Massachusetts, where Moderna is based; the other was filed in Germany, where BioNTech is headquartered. The lawsuits claim Pfizer and BioNTech infringed patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 on its mRNA technology. That technology was critical to the development of both companies’ COVID-19 vaccines after the start of the pandemic. In October 2020, Moderna pledged not to enforce its patents related to COVID-19 while the pandemic continued, the company said in a press release. Last March, Moderna updated its policy to continue exempting low- and middle-income countries from its COVID-19 patent enforcement. But Moderna said it expects companies like Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights. Moderna’s lawsuits do not seek to remove Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine from the market or prevent its future sale. However, Moderna is seeking damages incurred since March, when the company said it would start enforcing its COVID-19 patent in wealthy countries, such as the U.S. Our ruling In response to Moderna’s lawsuits against Pfizer and BioNTech, an Instagram post suggested the COVID-19 vaccine was created years before the pandemic began. Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement, alleging the rival companies used Moderna’s mRNA technology to make their own COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna filed patents for this technology between 2010 and 2016. The first COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use in December 2020. Although the patents existed before the pandemic began, this does not mean Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech were already working on the COVID-19 vaccine. Scientists have used mRNA technology to study other viruses, such as the flu, Zika and rabies. We rate this claim Fals

Image claims to show a list of "Republican members of Congress whose PPP loans were forgiven. Conservative politicians have condemned President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel certain student debt. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said it would be unfair to people who didn’t take on loan or who already paid theirs off. U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said the relief shouldn't be footed by farmers, ranchers and teachers. And the House Judiciary GOP tweeted, "If you take out a loan, you pay it back. Period." That’s when the plan’s proponents, including the White House itself, fired back with what they suggested was evidence of Republican hypocrisy: screenshots of Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness that purportedly benefited these same congressional members. "Republican members of Congress whose PPP loans were forgiven," read an Aug. 24 Instagram post that listed the names of 13 members of Congress, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.. Alongside each name was a federal loan figure in the thousands or millions of dollars that had supposedly been canceled under that pandemic-era program. The list is a screenshot from Twitter of a tweet made by the Center for American Progress Action, a left-leaning public policy think tank. The organization was responding to a post from the House Judiciary GOP’s Twitter account that said, "If you take out a loan, you pay it back. Period." The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Instagram is owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) In this case, the post checks out. Comparing the Paycheck Protection Program with student debt forgiveness is not entirely parallel, as the business loans were designed to be forgiven as long as the money went toward pandemic-related costs and expenses. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., whose businesses had their loans forgiven, said it "takes a special kind of idiocy to equate (student debt forgiveness) to the PPP. "The PPP helped people remain employed while the government literally shut down much of the economy," Norman said. Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the president's National Economic Council, told reporters the comparison was fair and Republicans were following a double standard. The Instagram post and original tweet do not name a source for the loan amounts. But other social media users have used a database established by the nonprofit news organization ProPublica that tracks businesses that received loans from the program. ProPublica’s database was made with information obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which implemented the Paycheck Protection Program with the Treasury Department. The program, established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, aka CARES, began in March 2020 to help small businesses affected by COVID-19 cover payrolls and, in some cases, hire back employees who were laid off. Companies across the country received $787.2 billion in loans, the Small Business Administration said. Lawmakers are not excluded from participating in the Paycheck Protection Program, and politicians from both sides of the political aisle received loans for their businesses. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 We looked up the companies connected to the politicians listed in the Instagram post with ProPublica’s database and found the numbers in the post were mostly accurate. There were discrepancies for two people who, the database showed, took more in loans from the program than the screenshot listed. The politicians and the forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans Gaetz is a shareholder in Pensacola, Florida-based Caregivers Inc., which received a $475,932 Paycheck Protection Program loan. Before taking office in January 2021, Marjorie Taylor Greene and her husband, Perry Greene, bought Taylor Commercial Inc., a construction business owned by her family in Alpharetta, Georgia. The company took out a $182,300 loan from the program. Rep. Gregory Pence, R-Ind., brother to former Vice President Mike Pence, owned two antique malls in Indiana organized under Pence Group LLC. It received a $79,441 loan. Car dealerships owned by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., before he took office in January 2021, also took in loans from the COVID-era program. Sarasota 500 LLC, which operates Sarasota Ford in Florida, received a $2.32 million loan; Nissan of Elizabeth City in North Carolina got a $384,200 loan. The government forgave both loans for a combined $2.6 million. KTAK Corp., a restaurant management company co-owned by Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., had a $1.07 million loan forgiven by the government. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, owns a Texas car dealership through the JRW Corp. in Fort Worth that received a $1.43 million loan. Trace Die Cast, a Bowling Green, Kentucky, company founded by the father of Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., received a $4.3 million loan. Four Pennsylvania car dealerships owned by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., took in a combined $974,100 in Paycheck Protection Program loans, ProPublica’s database shows. Mike Kelly Automotive, LP received $197,300, Mike Kelly Automotive Group Inc. received $327,500, Mike Kelly Hyundai received $180,800 and Mike Kelly Chevrolet received $268,500. Heartland Tractor Co., a farming equipment company owned by Rep. Vicki Hartzler, R-Mo., and her husband, received a $451,200 loan. Five car dealerships owned by the husband of Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., received a combined $3.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. The loans to DM Motor, Dutch Miller Chevrolet, Dutch Miller Subaru, Dutch Miller of Charleston and Dutch Miller of Charlotte were all forgiven. The Instagram post differed for the Paycheck Protection Program amount Mullin received. The post claims he received $988,700, when ProPublica reported he received at least $1.44 million across four of his companies — Mullin Environmental, Mullin Plumbing, Mullin Plumbing West Division and Mullin Services. The Instagram post listed Norman, a sitting member of 23 different companies, as receiving $306,520 in Paycheck Protection Program loans. However, ProPublica found Norman-associated businesses had received even more loan money. At least three companies associated with Norman received four Paycheck Protection Program loans. FM Hotel LLC received $169,100, GBC Rock Hill LLC received $164,900 and Catawba Hotel Associates II received loans of $114,400 and $160,100. All told, Norman-associated companies received $608,500 in loans. Our ruling An Instagram post listed 13 Republican politicians who criticized Biden’s plan to cancel student debt but took out Paycheck Protection Program loans that the government forgave. Businesses owned by or associated with the politicians named in the post did receive Paycheck Protection Program loans. Businesses connected to two politicians named in the post received more than the Instagram post showed. We rate this post Tru

Sarasota, Florida, teachers told they cannot purchase books, accept donated reading materials, order from Scholastic or hold book fairs With school back in session, much remains unclear about how school districts across Florida will comply with the state's new education law. Signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, the law places new requirements on selecting items for school libraries and books for classrooms, as well as stipulations for school boards before they approve instructional materials. Pending further guidance from education officials, one viral Facebook post suggested that a Florida district has halted purchases of instructional materials and prohibited book fairs. Sarasota teachers "were recently told they cannot purchase books or have any books or reading material donated to their classroom," read an Aug. 22 Facebook post. "They can't order from Scholastic, and their schools will not host book fairs." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) We found that Sarasota County Schools did ask teachers to stop accepting donations and making purchases of reading material until at least January 2023. However, book fairs and Scholastic orders by students are still allowed. The district told PolitiFact it implemented the pause to provide Florida's Department of Education with ample time to interpret and comply with HB 1467, which took statewide effect in July. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The law directs school district personnel, who review instructional materials, to undergo training on selecting "age-appropriate" books. It also requires a certified media specialist to vet material in a school library. Teachers in Florida can still select reading materials for their classroom libraries; however, each book must be submitted for review. As of yet, Sarasota County Schools doesn't have certified media specialists working in its schools. The pause would allow the district time to fill such positions. The district said book fairs slated for the fall can remain as scheduled. However, it did note the possibility of rescheduling them. Schools that haven't already scheduled book fairs are advised to wait until spring. Scholastic book orders by students are also allowed as long as the order form is reviewed by parents in advance, according to the district. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed that Sarasota teachers were told they cannot purchase books, accept donated reading materials, order from Scholastic or hold book fairs. Sarasota County Schools asked teachers to temporarily stop accepting donations and to halt purchases of library materials to allow Florida's Department of Education to issue guidance on a new law. However, the district didn't prohibit book fairs or Scholastic book orders. The post is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate it Half True

“Nearly half of pregnant women in Pfizer trial miscarried. Since COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in the United States, PolitiFact has debunked several claims seemingly aimed at discouraging pregnant people from getting a shot. It’s not true, for example, that 920 women lost their babies after getting vaccinated. Nor that 80% of women who were vaccinated miscarried in the first trimester. But a recent Instagram post perhaps gave some expecting parents pause. "Massacre: Nearly half of pregnant women in Pfizer trial miscarried," the post said. "Forty-four percent of pregnant women who participated in the drug maker’s COVID-19 vaccine trial lost their babies." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post cites "300,000 Pfizer documents" obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Pfizer declined to discuss the social media post, saying in an email that the company doesn’t "comment on social media claims." So we reached out to Jeffrey Morris, a director of the University of Pennsylvania’s biostatistics division. "It seems they misinterpreted the data," Morris said of the group behind the Instagram post. He pointed us to a Aug. 12 story on the Daily Clout, a blog run by Naomi Wolf, who was banned from Twitter for spreading misinformation about vaccines. The story said a Pfizer document on "adverse events" from vaccines "reveals chilling data showing 44% of pregnant women participating in Pfizer’s mRNA COVID vaccine trial suffered miscarriages." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 It goes on to say that a section of the document "shows that 50 women became pregnant during the trial. However, one must dig through the rest of the large document to learn that 22 of the 50 women suffered ‘abortion spontaneous,’ ‘abortion spontaneous complete,’ ‘abortion spontenaous incomplete’ or ‘miscarriage.’" That’s 44%. But by Aug. 19, the story, which has since been deleted, had a correction: "44% figure is incorrect. Two analysts have reviewed this Pfizer document and reached different totals and percentages than did the author of this report." Morris did his own analysis of the data. The report contains a table showing 50 women reporting pregnancy after vaccination. There are also 22 reports of spontaneous abortion adverse events. But these 22 reports aren’t all unique — nine were mentioned twice. By Morris’ count, there were 13 miscarriages. Among the group of 13, Morris said, three occurred among the 50 people who reported pregnancies after the first dose. RELATED VIDEO As the 44% figure gained traction online, Victoria Male, an immunologist studying pregnancy at Imperial College in London, tweeted the actual miscarriage rates "among those who became pregnant during the trial." For the vaccine group, the rate was 7%. For the control group that didn’t take the vaccine, it was 15%. "These rates are not significantly different from each other, or from normal," Male said. The claim in the Instagram post is wrong on the math, and it is not proved that the smaller number of miscarriages happened because of a vaccine. We rate this post False.

Says Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes “supports abolishing ICE. As Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, is set to face-off with Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in the Nov. 8, 2022, election, his stance on immigration has taken a hit from the Republican opposition. Or at least his perceived stance. In an Aug. 10, 2022, news release, part of a series aiming to paint Barnes as extreme, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), claimed that Barnes "supports abolishing ICE." ICE, of course, is U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, one of three agencies created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when Congress passed the Homeland Security Act. The agency says its "mission is to protect America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety." The agency’s detention and deportation operations have faced the ire of immigration rights groups and others, putting ICE at the center of controversy for many years. But it wasn’t until spring 2018 when "the Abolish ICE move­ment began to shift from a hashtag to a more formal stance," according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Even then, as with the "defund the police" efforts, there are many different views on just what it means. Some want the agency eliminated entirely, others prefer reforms. In a July 2018 article, the Brennan Center noted that if ICE were to be abolished, "other parts of the govern­ment would likely take up some of the agency’s respons­ib­il­it­ies." So, returning to the claim: Does Barnes support "abolishing ICE"? Does Barnes really want to abolish ICE? When asked for backup, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which aims to elect Republican senators across the country, pointed to two things: The first is a 2018 photo of Barnes holding up a red T-shirt that reads "Abolish ICE." The photo was shared at the time on Reddit and has since made the rounds on Twitter, especially in the wake of Barnes winning the Democratic nomination in August. The photo surfaced shortly after Barnes responded to a tweet from a Madison-based activist, who offered him the shirt from the Democratic Socialists of America. "Don't know how I missed this reply, but I need that," Barnes replied to the tweet on July 4, 2018. At the time he was in the midst of his successful campaign for lieutenant governor. The National Republican Senatorial Committee also pointed to when Barnes headlined an event on Nov. 15, 2021, for the Brooklyn, New York-based advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy, a group that has endorsed Barnes. But the committee offered no reference to anything Barnes said at the event, or elsewhere on abolishing ICE. Instead, it was mostly guilt by association: The NRSC shared a Vox article that noted the group was involved in a June 2018 march during which "protesters draped themselves in silver thermal blankets — evoking images of migrant kids in shelters — and chanted ‘Abolish ICE’ and ‘We care.’" In an October 2021 news release, Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, said, "The repeated violence perpetrated by (Customs and Border Patrol) and ICE prove time and time again that these agencies cannot be reformed and must be abolished." The November 2021 event that Barnes attended, however, focused on voting rights issues and the mobilizing of young and first-time voters, especially those from Black and Latino communities. Featured Fact-check Adam Laxalt stated on November 20, 2022 in an ad “Biden and Democrats have dismantled border security.” By Maria Ramirez Uribe • November 3, 2022 "This group endorsed the Lt. Governor; he did not endorse them or their policies," wrote Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for Barnes, in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin. "At no point in the event or during any interaction with this group did he advocate for abolishing ICE." That’s a valid point: If Barnes supports abolishing ICE, shouldn’t there be evidence of him saying so? That brings us to the T-shirt photo. Examining the claim McDaniel made a similar argument, saying, "Simply holding up a T-shirt that was given as a gift does NOT equate to supporting a policy." But he did hold up the shirt. Barnes has said little about the circumstances. A March 2022 article in the Wisconsin Examiner noted: "He held up the Abolish ICE T-shirt, he says, as an expression of solidarity with immigrants who were reacting with horror at the time to scenes of children ripped from their parents at the border." McDaniel declined to say anything more. Instead, she argued that: "The Lt. Governor has been crystal clear that he does not support abolishing ICE." What is Barnes’ position? Let’s dig in from that angle and what Barnes himself has said. That is, the positions he has publicly taken. Barnes has made clear during the campaign, and in recent years, that he does not support abolishing ICE. Rather, he has called for the agency to be reformed. In a video on his website, Barnes says: "We need comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border and also includes a path to citizenship." McDaniel also pointed to articles from the Wisconsin Examiner and Spectrum News in which Barnes said he does not support abolishing ICE. In addition, in February 2022, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a piece addressing questions surrounding the photo of Barnes and his stance on abolishing ICE. "I am not a part of the Abolish ICE movement because no one slogan can capture all the work we have to do," Barnes said. "But I do support comprehensive reform in our immigration agencies that protect our borders while establishing a pathway to citizenship and ensuring no one coming to this country has to experience traumas like family separation." Asked if he sided with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who wants to dismantle ICE, or with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who aims to overhaul the federal agency, Barnes told the Journal Sentinel: "I’m not in any one person’s camp, but I respect what they both bring to this important conversation." Our ruling The National Republican Senatorial Committee claimed that Barnes "supports abolishing ICE." But the group identified no direct evidence or statements from the candidates saying such a thing — only an appearance for a group that supports that position, and a photo with a T-shirt. At the same time, there is plenty of evidence that Barnes has taken a less extreme position on the matter, calling for reforms. In other words, we have a statement that "contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That’s our definition of Mostly False. And that’s our rating. window.gciAnalyticsUAID = 'PMJS-TEALIUM-COBRAND'; window.gciAnalyticsLoadEvents = false; window.gciAnalytics.view({ 'event-type': 'pageview', 'content-type': 'interactives', 'content-ssts-section': 'news', 'content-ssts-subsection': 'news:politics', 'content-ssts-topic': 'news:politics:politifactwisconsin', 'content-ssts-subtopic': ' news:politics:politifactwisconsin' });

Screenshots show that conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro received more than $20,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness A tale of two Ben Shapiros ensnared a conservative political commentator in what initially appeared to be an example of loan-forgiveness hypocrisy. "I have a controversial idea about paying off student loan debt," conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said in an Aug. 23 tweet. "Don’t take out debt you will likely be unable to pay off, and don't ask others to pay off your debts." "This you?" replied several Twitter users, attaching screenshots that show someone named Ben Shapiro benefited from $21,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. Screenshots of these Twitter exchanges spread quickly to other platforms including Facebook. The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from Facebook.) Although the screenshots looked damning at first glance, a case of mistaken identity was at play. A Los Angeles-based Ben Shapiro received nearly $21,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness, but that person worked in the real estate industry, according to a ProPublica database. Media personality Ben Shapiro lived in California until he moved to South Florida in late 2020, according to news reports. Shapiro said in a Sept. 22, 2021, episode of his show that he’d lived in Florida for a year. It appears the Shapiro who got the loan from the program is a different person. Loan forgiveness back-and-forth President Joe Biden on Aug. 24 announced his plan to forgive up to $20,000 of student loan debt for eligible borrowers. The plan drew criticism from many conservative politicians and pundits. Pushing back, cheerleaders of Biden’s move took to social media. They drew parallels between the student debt cancellation plan and another kind of debt forgiveness: the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. That federal program was designed to help small businesses continue paying employees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic’s early months, and many loans from the program were forgiven. Even the White House got in on the action, calling out Republican lawmakers whose loans from the program were forgiven. But not everyone exchanging barbs had federal loans forgiven. Twitter users who alleged that Shapiro, a conservative commentator and relentless Biden critic who is based in Florida, received loan forgiveness drew their proof from screenshots of ProPublica’s Tracking Paycheck Protection Program database. The database can be used to search "every company approved for federal loans," according to ProPublica’s website. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 But a closer look at the database indicates that a different person named Ben Shapiro received a Paycheck Protection Program loan — and, later, loan forgiveness: (Screenshot from ProPublica.) A search of ProPublica’s database did not show that a Florida-based Ben Shapiro in the media industry received PPP loans. A search of a second Paycheck Protection Program loan database, PPP-Loan.info, also turned up a California-based Ben Shapiro who received a federal loan from the program worth nearly $21,000. Both databases report the same lender, Celtic Bank Corp. PPP-Loan.info showed a partial address, which we linked to a Los Angeles realtor named Ben J. Shapiro. We reached out to this Shapiro but did not hear back. Conservative media personality Ben Shapiro’s middle name is Aaron. PolitiFact also searched the database to see whether the right-wing website Shapiro founded, The Daily Wire, received Paycheck Protection Program loans. We found no evidence that it did. The Daily Wire is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Shapiro himself took to Twitter to debunk the claims. So they found a person named Ben Shapiro who applied for and received a loan in Los Angeles in 2021. Here's the full screenshot -- notice the same amount. As you may know, I am not a real estate agent or broker. pic.twitter.com/oImtUImdFp— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 24, 2022 Left-wing social media users "are saying I took PPP money," he said Aug. 24. "This is a lie." He added: "As you may know, I am not a real estate agent or broker." Alyssa Cordova, a spokesperson for the Daily Wire and Shapiro, said neither accepted the federal program’s funds. Our ruling Screenshots shared on Facebook suggested that Shapiro received almost $21,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. A California-based real estate industry business owner named Ben Shapiro received nearly $21,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. Political commentator Ben Shapiro said it wasn’t he who received the money and we found no evidence contradicting that. We rate these claims False. PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed research to this repor

"If your body's pH is alkaline, you cannot get cancer. And if you have cancer, it goes away. A video circulating on social media may seem to offer a silver bullet for the hundreds of thousands of people diagnosed with cancer in the United States every year. "If your body's pH is alkaline, you cannot get cancer," a man says in the video. "And if you have cancer, it goes away." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) We’ve previously debunked claims that "alkaline food" can heal the body of cancer. The so-called alkaline diet, which sometimes comes up in connection with cancer treatment, is based on the theory that some foods cause your body to produce more acid, which is harmful. Some studies have shown that cancer cells thrive in highly acidic environments, so this diet’s premise is that consuming certain foods and drinks can change your body’s acidity, making it inhospitable for cancer. But there are big catches. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 First, the studies that suggest acidic environments help cancer cells grow relied on cells in a petri dish, which don’t "represent the complex nature of how tumors behave in the human body," according to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Second, you can’t alter your blood’s pH level with food. Second, the notions that people can’t get cancer if their bodily pH is alkaline or that people can turn their bodies alkaline, and thus cure or prevent cancer, are "absolutely false" and "nonsense," said Dr. Nigel Brockton, vice president of research at the American Institute for Cancer Research. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral, and anything less is acidic while anything greater is alkaline. The pH in human bodies generally hovers around 7.5, Brockton said. Alkaline, and yet, some people still get cancer. Some disease conditions can make the blood more alkaline or more acidic, Brockton said, "but those are pathologic conditions. Healthy people can’t change their body pH." If the statement in the Facebook post were true, Brockton said, "cancer would go away. It wouldn’t exist for anyone." Unfortunately, that’s not so. We rate this claim Fals

"Monkeypox is a complete, fake sham” that’s “designed to force lockdowns, mandates and shots. Monkeypox has infected nearly 48,000 people globally, but a video spreading online suggests it’s all a hoax. "MonkeyPox power-grabbing sham! Fake ‘outbreak’ designed to force lockdowns, mandates, and shots," read the caption on a Facebook video posted Aug. 17. The video features a clip of conservative radio personality Stew Peters saying, "Monkeypox is a complete fake sham, just like COVID-19." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) First, we find no evidence that any lockdown measures similar to those implemented during the early days of COVID-19 pandemic have been put in place in response to monkeypox. Nor have we seen any laws mandating monkeypox vaccines. Unlike with COVID-19, monkeypox is not new — it was first detected in humans in 1970 — and there is already a vaccine for it. Peters has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric, including making a film earlier this year that promoted the baseless theory that COVID-19 is a synthetic version of snake venom. The clip in this Facebook post comes from a 12-minute segment of Peters’ July 25 podcast "The Stew Peters Show." As evidence that monkeypox is a "complete sham," Peters appeared to be pointing to the low number of fatalities resulting from the virus. "Even the worst countries have only a few thousand cases," Peters said in the video. "And that’s nationwide. In the United States there have been zero monkeypox deaths." The World Health Organization on July 23 declared the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Invoking homophobic rhetoric before referring to monkeypox as "bogus" and "fake," Peters also implied that because gay and bisexual men comprise the majority of the virus’ patient population, nobody else is at risk of contracting it. That contradicts what we know about how monkeypox spreads. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 47,652 documented monkeypox cases worldwide. Thirteen of these were fatal infections, according to data compiled by CDC, World Health Organization, European CDC and Ministries of Health. To date, 17,431 cases have been confirmed in the United States, though none of them have been fatal. Despite the low odds of succumbing to monkeypox, public health officials have urged the general population to take the threat of the virus seriously since it can cause serious, and extremely painful, illness. According to the CDC, monkeypox "is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, (which is) the virus that causes smallpox." Unlike COVID-19, monkeypox is not primarily spread through airborne transmission. It is typically spread through close, often intimate, skin-to-skin contact. According to the CDC, the spread of the virus includes most often involves sexual contact, hugging, kissing, massaging or prolonged face-to-face contact with an individual who has the virus. "At this time, data suggest that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up the majority of cases in the current monkeypox outbreak," according to guidance from the CDC. "However, anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, who has been in close, personal contact with someone who has monkeypox is at risk." Our ruling A video shared on Facebook carried the caption, "Monkeypox power-grabbing sham! Fake ‘outbreak’ designed to force lockdowns, mandates, and shots." It showed a clip of Peters asserting the monkeypox outbreak was a "fake sham" and pointed to low death counts from the virus as proof. The disease has infected nearly 48,000 people globally and killed 13. There have been no government lockdowns or vaccine mandates issued in response. It is not a sham. We rate this claim Pants on Fir

Video shows Tucker Carlson speechless in interview with a guest What looks like a clip from Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News is being shared online with this description: "This Fox News reporter really wasn’t ready to face the facts!" The video shows a silent Carlson, his mouth slightly open, as Dr. Umar Johnson, who describes himself as a Pan-Afrikanist and psychologist, appears in the adjacent panel. "Arabs didn’t build America, Black people built America," Johnson says in the video. "Chinese ain’t build America, Black people built America. Jews ain’t build America, Black people built America. Mexicans ain’t build America, Black people built America. Anglo-Saxons ain’t built America, Black people built America. I built America, so don’t talk to me about no damn minority set-asides." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 A Fox News spokesperson told PolitiFact the video is fake. We found the original video of Johnson posted on his YouTube page in July 2021. He wasn’t appearing on Carlson’s show, and we found no evidence that he’s ever appeared on the show. Searching for his name on Fox’s website, we got no results. We rate claims that his video is authentic False.

The COVID-19 pandemic was planned, and a 2019 simulation called Event 201 was a rehearsal for it Two years ago, rapper Pitbull sat down for an interview and made an unfounded claim about the COVID-19 pandemic that went viral and was debunked. Now, his claim’s circulating again on social media. During a Sept. 25, 2020 appearance on "Drink Champs," a podcast that’s also an internet and TV show, Pitbull, whose given name is Armano Christian Pérez, suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned and that a 2019 simulation called Event 201 was a rehearsal for it. A clip from the interview resurfaced on Twitter on Aug. 22. "There’s a rehearsal that went on before this whole s---, it’s called Event 201. October 8, 2019, this s--- came out," Pitbull said. "It was run by the Johns Hopkins University, which is in cahoots with Bill Gates/Melinda Gates’ foundation, and this was a complete rehearsal of what we’re (doing) right now." Pitbull’s claim was fact-checked by multiple media outlets in 2020, and it remains untrue. Event 201 was a real meeting that simulated the effects of a pandemic. But its purpose was to help boost preparedness for any global outbreak. We reached out to Pitbull’s spokesperson for comment but did not receive a reply. Event 201 was a simulation of a fictional pandemic Pitbull was correct about the details of Event 201: It was held Oct. 18, 2019, and was sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Economic Forum, according to the event website. The 3.5-hour simulation featured a virus outbreak that started in Brazil with bats, and then moved to pigs and people before spreading to South America, the United States and many other countries. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 Business, government and public health leaders were "players" in the exercise and were tasked with creating a policy response to the simulation. "Exercises similar to Event 201 are a particularly effective way to help policymakers gain a fuller understanding of the urgent challenges they could face in a dynamic, real-world crisis," according to the event website. Following the spread of misinformation about the event, The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security issued a statement about it in 2020. Event 201 did model a fictional coronavirus, but "we explicitly stated that it was not a prediction," the center’s statement said. "Instead, the exercise served to highlight preparedness and response challenges that would likely arise in a very severe pandemic." The family of viruses known as coronaviruses are common, and some types in addition to COVID-19 have also been serious, including SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012. Our ruling In 2020, Pitbull suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned and that a 2019 simulation called Event 201 was a rehearsal for it. Event 201 was a real event held in 2019, but it did not predict or plan for the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a preparedness exercise to help global leaders respond to future pandemics. We rate this claim Fals

Charlie Crist "supported Biden's agenda to defund the police. The morning after U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist clinched the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, the Republican Party of Florida aired an ad bashing his support of President Joe Biden. "Charlie Crist thinks Joe Biden is the best president of his lifetime," the Aug. 24 campaign ad said. "Crist even supports Biden's agenda to defund the police." The ad borrowed rhetoric from former President Donald Trump, who used the phrase "defund the police" to portray Biden as weak on crime ahead of the 2020 election. Calls for defunding the police followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Although some people who use the phrase want to eliminate police departments entirely, others want to reexamine the functions of police departments and redirect some of their funding to social services. Not unlike Trump's previous attack on Biden, the ad is misleading on several fronts. Biden does not have a "defund the police" agenda for Crist to share, and Crist is also against the notion. The Republican Party of Florida did not respond to PolitiFact's request for comment. Biden doesn't have an agenda to 'defund the police' We've written about whether Biden supports defunding the police more than six times. Biden has clearly said he opposes defunding the police. He told CBS on June 8, 2020: "I don't support defunding the police. I support conditioning federal aid to police, based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness." Biden repeated that stance in an interview with KDKA-TV's Jon Delano two months later: "I not only don't want to defund the police, I want to add $300 (million) to their budget." The Republicans' ad cited remarks Biden, as president, made about police reform negotiations on Sept. 22, 2021. Nowhere in the speech does Biden mention "defund the police." Biden spoke of H.R. 1280, or the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which faced opposition from Republicans and ultimately died in the U.S. Senate. Crist voted for the measure in the U.S. House of Representatives. Critics of the bill said that it would effectively "defund the police" by forcing them to divert funding to training on racial profiling and the duty to intervene when another officer is using excessive force. It also would have required agencies to record data related to law enforcement practices, including traffic stops and the use of deadly force. The bill itself did not call for "defunding" law enforcement. Still, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost intergovernmental agencies "several hundred million dollars annually" to implement the training and reporting requirements. The bill would have offered grants to assist state, local and tribal police departments with buying technology and training. It did not call for reallocating money from law enforcement agencies toward social services, which is usually what supporters of the "defund the police" concept say they mean with the phrase. Featured Fact-check Kanye West stated on October 16, 2022 in an interview Suggests fentanyl, not Derek Chauvin, killed George Floyd By Gabrielle Settles • October 18, 2022 In a March 2022 interview, Crist said he did not support the concept. "I don't support defunding the police," Crist said. "I support offering all the necessary funding and resources needed to ensure police officers undergo the proper training and screenings that will weed out bad actors." Crist doesn't want to cut police funding The Florida GOP ad included a brief clip of Crist saying, "It's reallocation." The footage comes from a virtual meeting between Crist and community organizers in St. Petersburg, Florida, on May 3, 2022. The party's accompanying website included a link to Crist's full response to a question about a proposal to "reimagine" St. Petersburg's approach to policing. Police chief Anthony Holloway announced a plan July 9, 2020, to create a unit of social and mental health workers to respond to nonviolent calls made to the police department. St. Petersburg received a $3.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 to hire more police officers. The city then matched the federal grant with $3.8 million. Holloway said he initially offered to hold off on hiring and use the matching funds to launch the program for nonviolent calls. One of the organizers during the May 2022 meeting asked Crist whether he supported Holloway's plan to redirect the matching funds to the program for nonviolent calls. "I support exactly what the chief is doing," Crist said. "And it isn't defunding, you're correct about that. It's reallocation and making a balance to the approach." The Republican Party's website frames Holloway's plan as an example of "defunding police." Holloway's plan did not aim to redirect funding outside St. Petersburg's police department. The program for nonviolent calls is managed, dispatched and funded by the department. The city ultimately decided to use the federal grant money to both hire more officers and provide funding for the program. Holloway also told PolitiFact that the department's budget increased because of the program. When we asked Crist's campaign about the ad, a staffer pointed to Crist's comments against "defunding the police," and a $314,000 grant that Crist helped secure for a police department in Largo, Florida, to purchase body cameras. Our ruling The ad said Crist "supported Biden's agenda to defund the police." Biden does not want to cut police funding, nor does he have such an agenda for Crist to support. The ad included a footnote citing remarks Biden made about police reform negotiations on Sept. 22, 2021. Biden spoke of H.R. 1280, or the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which died in the U.S. Senate. Crist did vote for the measure, but it did not aim to "defund the police." ​ The ad included an interview where Crist said he supported a plan in St. Petersburg to hire a unit of social workers to respond to nonviolent calls. The city's police department said the move ultimately increased their budget. Neither Biden nor Crist supports defunding the police. We rate the ad's claim False

“U.S. is testing new most deadly nuclear bomb from B-1B Lancer. Tension among the United States, Russia and China have stoked some fears of nuclear war. On Aug. 1, at a conference about the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons in New York, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said, "Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation." However, a recent Facebook post claiming that an American bomber is testing a nuclear bomb is wrong, according to the U.S. Air Force. "US is testing new deadliest nuclear bomb that shocks Russia and China," the Aug. 17 post says. It links to a blog post from the same date with the title "US is testing new most deadly nuclear bomb from B-1B Lancer." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) A U.S. Air Force spokesperson told PolitiFact the information in the Facebook post isn’t accurate and that the aircraft "does not carry nuclear weapons." Beyond the title, the blog post doesn’t mention nuclear weapons again. Rather, it appears to borrow heavily from a 2021 story in The Drive about Boeing Co.’s plans to start testing hypersonic weapons capabilities for the B-1B Lancer in September 2022. Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 27, 2022 in an Instagram post Video shows “military robots ready for war.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 31, 2022 Unlike the blog post, the Drive, an automotive news website, does mention nuclear weapons — but it doesn’t say the U.S. was testing them. The aircraft "were once intended to carry nuclear weapons," the article says, "before the B-1 lost this role after the end of the Cold War. The pylons were then disabled as the aircraft was made compliant with New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) regulations." New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation, was signed April 8, 2010, in Prague, and instituted Feb. 5, 2011. The Drive notes that "the original external pylons on the B-1B could also carry two missiles each, in this case, the nuclear-tipped AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile, or ALCM," but that none of the missiles under consideration "are expected to result in nuclear-armed weapons." The United States ended nuclear explosive testing in 1992, testing can be done using computer simulations without an actual nuclear detonation, said Matthew Fuhrmann, a Texas A&M University political science professor who studies nuclear proliferation.The State Department has said that "these computer simulation advances provide the United States with the ability to monitor and maintain the nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear explosive testing." Fuhrmann said the B-1B was converted to deliver strictly conventional munitions in the 1990s. "It could, in theory, deliver a nuclear payload," he said, "but, to my knowledge, does not currently do so and hasn’t for a couple decades." We rate this post Fals

Half of the votes for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election “are from dead people. We’ve previously written about the false "zombie claim" that dead people vote for Democrats, and unsurprisingly, it’s back. An image being shared on social media compares the 2020 election with a recent failed effort to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón. "2022 Gascon recall," text in the image says. "They got enough signatures to recall Los Angeles DA George Gascon. Interesting. Invalidate 30% of the signatures. 2020 presidential election. 50% of these votes are from dead people." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It’s true that close to 30% of the signatures submitted to put a recall election of Gascón on the ballot were disqualified for reasons that included signatures from people who didn’t live in Los Angeles County or who weren’t registered to vote, according to the county’s registrar-recorder. Petitioners needed to collect 566,857 valid signatures to get the recall of Gascón, a Democrat, on the ballot. Of the 715,833 submitted, 520,050 were considered valid. Politifact recently explored the Gascón recall election and its rejected petition signatures. There is no connection between the effort to recall Gascón and the 2020 general election. The claim that more than half of the 81 million votes for President Joe Biden were cast on behalf of dead people is unfounded. Thessalia Merivaki, a political scientist at Mississippi State University who studies voter fraud, has told us there’s "zero evidence" that ballots by dead people account for more than a tiny fraction of all votes recorded. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 18, 2022 in a post Connecticut ballot initiative on early voting would "remove the requirement of a certified seal from certain ballots." By Andy Nguyen • October 27, 2022 "This is a common campaign tactic to spread distrust in the integrity of elections," Merivaki said. "There are several reports that debunk the myth that dead voters vote in elections at such high numbers that the outcome of the election can be questioned." She pointed us to two news stories. The first story, in The Guardian, a United Kingdom-based news organization, reported on an investigation in Arizona that looked into allegations that nearly 300 dead people may have voted in the 2020 general election. In the end, only one person was actually dead at the time of the election. The second story debunked claims that 14,000 dead people voted in the 2020 election in Wayne County, Michigan. The list of alleged dead voters included people who weren’t Wayne County residents, people who didn’t receive or cast an absentee ballot, and at least one woman who appeared to be alive. There’s no national database of registered voters — living or dead. That means each local election office is responsible for removing voters who have died or have moved to another jurisdiction from their rolls. RELATED VIDEO Election officials receive death records from the U.S. Social Security Administration or a state office. In addition, 33 states and the District of Columbia belong to the Electronic Registration Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium that helps states share and update voter registration information, including death records. When a ballot is cast on behalf of a dead person, election officials say it’s usually a family member doing so. But this doesn’t happen enough to change the outcome of an election. Since the 2020 presidential election, evidence has only grown that it was secure. The Associated Press in December 2021 found fewer than 475 potential voter fraud cases in six battleground states. We rate claims that half of Biden’s voters were dead Pants on Fire.

Blake Masters “wants to pass a national ban on abortion. Battling in a toss-up race that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., attacked his Republican opponent as being extreme on abortion. Kelly claimed that political newcomer Blake Masters, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, "wants to pass a national ban on abortion." Kelly’s ad, which made other claims, appeared on Facebook and Instagram. Kelly won a 2020 special election for the Senate seat once held by the late Sen. John McCain. The abortion claim is also made in a TV ad by Senate Majority PAC, which works to elect Democrats to the Senate. Masters responded with an ad that attacks Kelly’s position on abortion, saying Kelly "is lying about my views on abortion." We found that Masters has softened his position on a so-called federal "personhood" law — one that argues that a fetus should have the constitutional rights of a person, and that abortion violates the fetus’ constitutional right to equal protection. Such a law is often viewed as a complete or nearly complete ban on abortion. Masters’ latest comments and revised campaign website still call for a federal abortion law, but he now says the law should prohibit abortion during a pregnancy’s third trimester. "Personhood generally is about abortion bans. It’s been about abortion bans for the pro-life movement since the 1960s," said Mary Ziegler, a professor, abortion historian and author of an upcoming book on personhood. "If you say you support personhood, you’re saying you support a nationwide ban. That’s the accepted meaning within the movement and within the culture." Masters’ position more vague during primary campaign Masters repeatedly stated support for a federal personhood law before his primary victory Aug. 3. He was often vague about when during a pregnancy it would apply. In a September 2021 interview, Masters said Congress "should have a debate and pick a certain point and say, ‘No, we’re going to recognize, right here, federal personhood and past that, absolutely no abortions.’" In an interview in December 2021, Masters was asked whether he would support a national law banning abortion. He said: "Yeah, I mean life is always worth protecting. … Certainly I’m running for U.S. Senate, at the federal level, I think Roe v. Wade should be overturned, and I do think we need a personhood amendment that recognizes (unintelligible) it’s a baby even before it’s born." At a February 2022 campaign event, Masters called for a federal personhood amendment and said Congress would determine when during pregnancy it would apply. "The federal government needs to step in and say, ‘We recognize life here and no state can permit abortions.’ That’s what I think offense on pro-life looks like," he said, in comments that were also reported by The Arizona Republic. In a February 2022 interview, Masters indicated support for a personhood law that would ban abortion relatively early in pregnancy, during the second or third month, The Arizona Republic reported. Masters said at a May campaign event that the 14th Amendment "says you have the right to life, liberty and property," the Huffington Post reported. "You can’t deprive someone with that without due process. Hard to imagine a bigger deprivation of due process than killing a small child before they have a chance to take their first breath. So, I think you do need a federal personhood law." Masters’ campaign issued the same quote to the Phoenix New Times for a June story. On his campaign website, Masters previously said he would "support a federal personhood law, ideally a constitutional amendment, that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed." NBC News reported that the language was scrubbed from the site Aug. 25. The site’s new text includes saying Masters supports "a law or a constitutional amendment that bans late term — third trimester — abortion and partial-birth abortion at the federal level." Featured Fact-check Liquid Death stated on October 27, 2022 in an ad In Georgia, it's "illegal to give people water within 150 feet of a polling place" and "punishable by up to a year in prison." By Tom Kertscher • November 7, 2022 Masters softens stance after winning nomination Masters softened his position after winning the Republican nomination in August. In an interview with The Arizona Republic for a news story published five days after his primary win, he said he backed a personhood law that would ban abortion nationally during the third trimester of pregnancy. The third trimester begins with the 27 week of pregnancy. Here’s how the article framed it: Masters said a federal ‘personhood law’ would help ban all third-trimester abortions. He said he views Arizona’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks — with exceptions for the life of the mother — is appropriate for his state. "The federal government should prohibit late-term abortion, third-trimester abortion and partial-birth abortion," he said. "Below that, states are going to make different decisions that are going to reflect the will of the people in those states, and I think that's reasonable. I think that’s what most people certainly in this state and nationwide are looking for. "I would look to Arizona’s (15-week) law and say I’m OK with it. I think it’s a reasonable solution, which reflects where the electorate is." Other Arizona news media also reported that Masters said in August that he supports a federal personhood law that would ban abortion nationally beginning in the third trimester of pregnancy, with an exception to save the life of the pregnant woman. State versions of personhood vary Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri and Arizona have personhood laws, or anti-abortion laws that include a personhood provision. But the personhood measures themselves don’t amount to an outright ban on abortion, and their impact on restricting abortion varies. For example, Alabama voters adopted a state personhood constitutional amendment in 2018 declaring that the policy of the state is "the protection of the rights of the unborn child." But it is Alabama’s 2019 criminal abortion law, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, that bans abortion except to save the life of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious health risk to her. Georgia’s law bans most abortions once a "detectable human heartbeat" exists, at about six weeks of pregnancy, and includes a personhood provision declaring that "natural persons include an unborn child." The law says a woman can seek child support during pregnancy and allows her to claim an unborn child as a dependent on state income taxes. Arizona in April 2021 adopted a law that acknowledges "on behalf of an unborn child at every stage of development," starting at conception, "all rights" available to other people in the state. In July 2022, a federal judge ruled that the law is unconstitutionally vague, and temporarily blocked it while a lawsuit challenging the law proceeds. A federal personhood bill introduced in the U.S. House in February 2021 is stalled under Democratic leadership. Our ruling Kelly said Masters "wants to pass a national ban on abortion." Masters repeatedly backed a federal personhood law, which is often viewed as a near or total ban on abortion, during his GOP primary. He was often vague about when during a pregnancy a ban would take effect, saying Congress should set the cutoff. Masters softened his position after winning the Republican nomination, though he still supports a federal ban. Now, he is saying he would ban abortion nationally only during the third trimester. Kelly’s statement is accurate but needs clarification. We rate it Mostly Tru

The deaths of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and actor Anne Heche are suspicious and linked because they “partnered fighting against pedophilia. U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and Hollywood actor Anne Heche died within days of each other as a result of injuries sustained in separate car crashes. Now an unfounded conspiracy theory seeks to link their deaths as part of an alleged plot to silence high-profile individuals from speaking out against child sex trafficking. "The late Jacqueline Renae Walorski and the late Anne Celeste Heche partnered fighting against pedophilia, it was shockingly revealed yesterday," a lengthy Aug. 19 Facebook post claimed. The post’s writer cited as proof a podcast that is known to promote baseless conspiracy theories. The post said the timing and nature of the women’s deaths were suspicious because Heche was recently filming a movie about Jeffrey Epstein and sex trafficking for the Lifetime network. "This all goes deeper than we'd like to imagine — intel agencies, elite politicians, absolutely," a quote included in the post said. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) First, Heche, 53, was not working on a film about Jeffrey Epstein, a financier accused of trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls. We recently rated a similar claim False. Epstein died in jail by suicide in 2019 before he could face criminal charges in court. Before her death, Heche had recently finished filming "Girl in Room 13," a story that deals with human trafficking that is due to air in September. But it wasn’t about Epstein. Heche died Aug. 12, several days after she crashed her car into a Los Angeles home. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled her death an accident, caused by inhalation and thermal injuries she suffered after the car caught fire. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post “Nancy Pelosi (purchased) 10,000 shares of Amgen, manufacturer of Nplate, a drug used to treat radiation sickness.” By Sara Swann • October 25, 2022 Walorski, 58, died Aug. 3, two days before Heche’s crash, when the SUV she was a passenger in collided head-on with another car on a highway in northern Indiana. The driver of the other car and two members of Walorski’s staff also died in the collision. Investigators with the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said the SUV, driven by a member of the congresswoman’s staff, drifted into the highway's cenrter line for "unknown reasons" and into opposing traffic. The collision remains under investigation. Although Walorski co-sponsored several House resolutions addressing human trafficking, she did not propose any legislation related to the subject during her time as a representative. We found no evidence Walorski and Heche knew each other. A search of Google and Nexis news archives included no mentions of them together while they were alive. Social media accounts used by Walorski and Heche don’t follow one another. The Facebook post used the far-right X22 Report podcast as the source of its claim. The podcast features an anonymous host and is known to promote baseless QAnon conspiracy theories. YouTube and Spotify removed the podcast from their websites in fall 2020 after it continued to share QAnon content and misinformation. Holly Baird, a spokesperson from Heche’s family, did not directly address PolitiFact’s question regarding the Facebook post’s claim, but did point to the previous fact-check regarding her death. A spokesperson for Walorski did not respond to PolitiFact's request for comment. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed the deaths of Walorski and Heche are suspicious and linked because they "partnered fighting against pedophilia." A far-right podcast known to promote QAnon conspiracy theories was the source of the post’s claim, and we could find no evidence that the two women ever knew each other. We rate this claim False. PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this repor

Image shows Trump is representing himself in a lawsuit against the United States government related to the FBI search of his Florida home Following the FBI's search of Donald Trump's home at Mar-a-Lago, The Washington Post reported the former president was having trouble assembling a team of defense lawyers to sue the government. So it came as no surprise to some social media users when a recent legal filing listed Trump as representing himself. A screenshot shared online showed a portion of a civil docket in the case of "Trump v. United States Government." It showed the former president listed as represented by "pro se," which is a Latin phrase meaning "for oneself, on one’s own behalf." The phrase is used in legal proceedings when someone doesn’t have their own counsel and is representing themselves. Trump is suing the government to appoint a "special master" who will oversee the documents that were seized by the FBI and screen it for any potential privileged material. Social media posts took the image and ran with it — suggesting Trump was representing himself because no lawyer was willing to take his case. "A pathological liar is going to testify under oath against his own government — without a lawyer because nobody wanted to take on his losing case," one Twitter user said. "Everybody has abandoned him in the end." Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 Although the screenshot listing Trump as representing himself is legitimate, it was the apparent result of a filing error. A copy of the suit names three lawyers representing Trump — Lindsey Halligan, James M. Trusty and M. Evan Corcoran. An updated version of the docket lists Halligan as the lead attorney for Trump’s defense where it originally had him as being "pro se." Because the lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Halligan is the only attorney licensed to practice law in the state, a "pro hac vice" motion had to be filed for Trusty and Corcoran. "Pro hac vice" allows a lawyer to practice law in a court where they don’t have jurisdiction. Our ruling Several social media posts circulated the claim that Trump was acting as his own lawyer in his lawsuit against the U.S. government related to the FBI search of his Florida home. The claims were based on a screenshot from the online docket of the case, but it was the apparent result of a filing error. Trump does have three lawyers acting as his defense and they are listed in a copy of the complaint. We rate this False

"Last year the IRS audited Americans earning less than $25,000 a year at five times the rate of other groups. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law Aug. 16, 2022, by President Joe Biden, has many provisions aiming to lower drug costs, address the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and ask large corporations to pay a greater share of taxes. But one aspect of the Democratic plan has sparked some of the biggest headlines: $80 billion over 10 years to beef up the Internal Revenue Service. Here’s a sample of unfounded and debunked claims: A ‘Delta Force’ seized a shipment of weapons headed to the IRS, a TikTok video claimed. PolitiFact National rated this Pants on Fire. The government is arming up the IRS because "Joe Biden is raising taxes and disarming Americans," U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said. PolitiFact National rated this False. "Democrats' new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you — with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k," House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy insisted. PolitiFact National rated this Mostly False. In Wisconsin, meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson weighed in Aug. 7, 2022, the day the Senate approved the measure, with a news release citing a litany of grievances with the IRS and this claim: "Last year, the IRS audited Americans earning less than $25,000 a year at five times the rate of other groups." According to Democrats and the White House, the Inflation Reduction Act money for the IRS is meant to improve tax compliance enforcement of the wealthiest in the nation. So, Johnson’s claim caught our attention. Is he right? Two sides point to the same study to make their points When asked for backup, Johnson spokesperson Alexa Henning pointed to an April 13, 2022, letter from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. The letter was sent to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig. The letter — from two prominent Democrats, no less — accuses the IRS of targeting low-income Americans for tax audits. After noting the lawmakers are working to secure more money to expand audits, the letter says: "The most vulnerable taxpayers should not shoulder the burden of insufficient IRS enforcement funding simply because they require fewer resources to audit." Keep those thoughts in mind as we move ahead. At the core of the letter — and therefore of Johnson’s claim — is an analysis of tax data from the 2021 fiscal year by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center. Here is what the analysis found: !function(e,i,n,s){var t="InfogramEmbeds",d=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement("script");o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src="https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js",d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,"infogram-async"); What’s behind this? The March 8, 2022, TRAC analysis says the "IRS accomplished over 650 thousand audits last year by jacking up its already high reliance on ‘correspondence audits’ — essentially a letter from the IRS asking for documentation on a specific line item on a return. All but 100,000 of the 659,000 audits were conducted with these letters through the mail." Indeed, in the 2021 fiscal year, that sort of audit accounted for 85% of all audits, up from about 80% in the previous two years. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 25, 2022 in an Instagram post The documentary “2,000 Mules proves” Democrats “cheated on the 2020 elections.” By Jon Greenberg • October 28, 2022 The analysis noted a similar phenomenon occurred more than 20 years ago, amid a cutback in IRS staff. In other words, with less staff, the most simple audits continue, while other more complex audits fall off. A limitation in the IRS’ ability to audit millionaires is the availability of IRS revenue agents, a particular class of investigators. "Only this class of auditors, given sufficient training and experience, are qualified to examine complex tax returns — the types of returns typically filed by high-income individuals and large-scale businesses," the analysis states. What does the IRS say? When asked about Johnson’s claim, IRS media relations chief Karen A. Connelly referred PolitiFact Wisconsin to the March 17, 2022, congressional testimony from Rettig. In it, Rettig called the TRAC findings "absolutely 100% false" and said he was "tired of having to deal with this issue." "We audit high-income taxpayers more than any other category in the Internal Revenue Service," Rettig said. "Taxpayers reflecting over $10 million of income are audited at a rate exceeding 7%. Taxpayers at the $25,000 level, which is primarily — the earned income taxpayer would be the only people we would look at, are audited at 1.1%." According to TRAC, Rettig was referring to numbers from 2016. They argue that makes their own numbers more up to date. But that misses an important point. The IRS does not have to initiate audits in the same year returns are filed. So, as years pass, and more audits are started, the picture changes. "Under the IRS’s definition of the audit rate, the 2016 figure was the most current complete data," said Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Holtzblatt said audits of 2016 tax returns would have begun, at the earliest, in 2017. So at the time of the preparation of the 2020 Data Book, the audit data for 2016 returns were the most recent year outside the statute of limitations for audits. So, it’s the total number of audits possible for 2016 returns. "Data for a later year would not be complete because the IRS could still be opening up audits for that year. That is, by the IRS definition, the 2019 audit rate would not reflect all the audits that would eventually be done on 2019 tax returns." So, all of that leaves us in an interesting spot. In arguing against a bill that provides more money to do more audits of high-income individuals, Johnson cites the same statistics as those calling for the increased spending. Fair enough. And those numbers do refer to "last year." But, under the audit process, they are not complete. The numbers will only rise — and the proportions could change — as more audits are begun and completed. That means it’s not as simple as Johnson suggests. Our ruling Johnson said "last year, the IRS audited Americans earning less than $25,000 a year at five times the rate of other groups." That, well, tracks with the TRAC data — and lawmakers on the other side of the issue have cited the same information in making their case for the bill. But both sides are missing a key point: Audits are not all begun instantly, so at best the figures cited are preliminary ones. They will change, and the proportion may well shift, as time passes and more audits are started and completed. In other words, the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. 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“US Army in Ukraine. On Feb. 12, news broke that the Pentagon ordered U.S. troops stationed in Ukraine to leave the country due to the impending Russian invasion. But a recent Facebook post claims American troops are still there. "End of the road for Putin!" an Aug. 17 Facebook post says. "US Army in Ukraine!" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Garron Garn, a U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and a Defense Department spokesperson, told PolitiFact that this post isn’t accurate. "There are no military forces in Ukraine," he said. Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 16, 2022 in an Instagram post Kid Rock posted “Zelensky just bought his parents an $8,000,000 villa, complete with a salt water pool & 3 brand new vehicles.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 17, 2022 The post includes a 10-minute video in which an unseen, automated-sounding narrator discusses the war but offers no further explanation about the claim that U.S. troops are in Ukraine and provides no evidence to support it. RELATED VIDEO There were 160 Florida National Guard troops training Ukraine’s military when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin temporarily relocated them to Europe in February. And 3,000 more American troops from the 82nd Airborne were also deployed to Europe from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The National Guard has continued to support Ukrainian soldiers remotely, according to the Army. For example, a June article on the Army’s website shares how a Ukrainian soldier called a member of the Washington Army National Guard for help with a failed anti-tank missile. But we rate claims that U.S. Army forces are stationed in Ukraine False.

An image shows a chyron on Tucker Carlson’s show that said “straight men turning homo after ‘gay hypnosis.’ A photo of a television tuned to Fox News appears to show a surprising chyron on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "Straight men turning homo after ‘gay hypnosis,’" the text says below Carlson’s face, his brow furrowed. A Facebook post sharing this image was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) A Fox News spokesperson told PolitiFact that the image isn’t authentic. Featured Fact-check Tucker Carlson stated on October 27, 2022 in a TV segment The United States is "about to run out of diesel fuel ... by the Monday of Thanksgiving week." By Andy Nguyen • November 7, 2022 We didn’t find any evidence to challenge that. An online search returned no credible sources to corroborate the claim, and we didn’t find the subject on Carlson’s show page or on Fox News’ website. Searching there for the words "gay" and "men" and "hypnosis," we found two stories, both from eight years ago. The first was about a man suing a clinic for gay conversion therapy; the second was about a Democratic push to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We rate this post Pants on Fire!

“Marjorie Taylor Greene was raided by Joe Biden’s DOJ last night. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been critical of the recent FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. But the Republican from Georgia was not personally subjected to a search by the Department of Justice. A recent Instagram post claims otherwise. "BREAKING," the caption on the Aug. 24 post says. "Marjorie Taylor Greene was raided by Joe Biden’s DOJ last night." It included a screenshot of an Aug. 24 tweet by Greene that said she had been "swatted just after 1 a.m." that day. Swatting is a crime that involves making a hoax 911 call to send police to someone’s residence for fabricated reasons that often include hostages, gunfire and violence. The Instagram post has since been removed. Before its removal, it was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Greene didn’t tweet or suggest that the DOJ was behind the visit to her home, and a statement from local police said their response to the home was based on a false call. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 12, 2022 in a Facebook post “Trump woken up from his bed by police.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 14, 2022 "I can’t express enough gratitude to my local law enforcement here in Rome, Floyd County," Greene’s tweet said. Later that day, the Rome Police Department issued a statement that officers had responded to a 911 call that referenced someone being shot multiple times. As officers were en route to the address provided, they were told it was Greene’s home, according to an incident report from the department, obtained and published by Politico, among other news organizations. Once they arrived, Greene "assured the officers there was no issue and the call was determined to be a false call commonly known as ‘swatting,’" the police statement said. In a second, subsequent 911 call someone using a computer-generated voice said they were upset by Greene’s political views on transgender youth rights. They said they were trying to "SWAT" her, according to the incident report. RELATED VIDEO The report said the suspect claimed to be connected to a website that supports cyberstalking and stated their username. But the Daily Dot reported that the username "belongs to an admin on the site known for doxxing, swatting, and anti-transgender posts, suggesting that the caller’s alleged motives and identity may have been fabricated." At any rate, there’s no evidence to support the claim that the DOJ raided Greene’s home. We rate that claim False.

In England, “COVID-19 vaccinated children are 4,423% more likely to die of any cause and 13,633% more likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated children. A United Kingdom-based blog has taken COVID-19 data out of context to claim that vaccinated children are more at risk of death than unvaccinated children. The headline of a July 27 blog post by The Daily Exposé claims: "SHOCKING: U.K. government admits COVID vaccinated children are 4,423% more likely to die of any cause & 13,633% more likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated children." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The data referenced in the blog post is from the Office of National Statistics, which reports directly to the U.K. Parliament. The office collects, analyzes and disseminates statistics about the U.K.'s economy, society and population. This is not the first time The Daily Exposé has made such a claim. In January, the blog used Office of National Statistics data to falsely assert that the COVID-19 vaccine was causing an uptick in deaths among children. There is no evidence in the ONS data to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to children’s deaths, agency spokesperson Glenn Garrett told PolitiFact in February. The ONS reported that as of Aug. 23 there had been 45 deaths in England in which a COVID-19 vaccine was mentioned on a death certificate. In 39 of these cases, the vaccine was the underlying cause. Of the people who died, only one was younger than 20. ONS mortality data The ONS data for England covers Jan. 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022 and shows: Total deaths related to COVID-19, by vaccination status, for people ages 10 to 19 Total deaths unrelated to COVID-19, by vaccination status, for people ages 10 to 19 The data set does not list the cause for non-COVID-19 deaths. Of the 272 vaccinated children who died during this time, 10 had COVID-19. And of the 473 unvaccinated children who died, 33 had COVID-19. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 The sample size of vaccinated children is much smaller than that of unvaccinated children because for most of 2021 in England, the COVID-19 vaccine was available only to children who had health conditions that could make them more vulnerable to a serious case of COVID-19. The vaccine became widely available to all children 12 to 17 years old in August 2021. Children younger than 12 became eligible for the vaccine in December 2021. In England, children ages 16 and older are eligible to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some children ages 12-15 who have certain medical conditions are also eligible for a third COVID-19 vaccination. The Daily Exposé’s calculation The Daily Exposé attempted to do its own mortality rate and vaccine effectiveness calculations using the ONS data. It claimed children ages 10 to 14 who have received three COVID-19 vaccine doses are 13,633% (or about 137 times) more likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated children. The blog also claimed children ages 10 to 14 who have received three COVID-19 vaccine doses are 4,423% (or about 45 times) more likely to die of any cause than unvaccinated children. However, this is misleading. The blog’s calculations found deceptively high mortality rates for triple-vaccinated children because of the overrepresentation of children with medical conditions. The Office of National Statistics calculates the age-standardized mortality rates for adults in England. But the office did not do that for children because of the disparities in sample sizes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children, and because children with other health issues that put them at higher risk for severe illness were prioritized for the vaccine and booster shot. In its data set, the ONS notes these disparities and cautions against comparing mortality rates and death counts between people in different vaccination statuses. Garrett, the ONS spokesperson, also told PolitiFact in February that because of these factors, any mortality rate comparisons between vaccinated and unvaccinated children would not be meaningful. Other factors can also influence mortality rates, regardless of vaccination status, including individual health conditions, changes in COVID-19 infection levels, the emergence of new dominant variants and differing levels of immunity from previous infection. Our ruling A blog post said that in England, "COVID-19 vaccinated children are 4,423% more likely to die of any cause and 13,633% more likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated children." There is no evidence that links the COVID-19 vaccine to an increase in deaths among children in England. Disparities in sample sizes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children, and prioritizations for vaccination prevent a valid comparison among the groups, said a spokesperson for a U.K. office that collects health data. We rate this claim False. RELATED: No, the COVID-19 vaccine is not increasing child mortality in Engla

The American Rescue Plan “helped create nearly 10 million new jobs. As President Joe Biden prepared to sign a Democratic bill that would enact several of his agenda items, he harked back to other legislation he’s enacted to try to boost the U.S. economy. The American Rescue Plan "helped create nearly 10 million new jobs," he said during the Aug. 16 ceremony. Signed in March 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was a major burden on the economy, the American Rescue Plan passed with exclusively Democratic support in Congress. It included $1,400 payments to about 85% of Americans, $360 billion for state and local governments and $242 billion in expanded unemployment benefits. Critics of that law now say it also added to inflationary pressures that are dampening the economy. And although economists told PolitiFact the American Rescue Plan helped boost job creation to some extent, they said Biden is exaggerating the bill’s impact by crediting it with creating 10 million jobs. When we asked the White House staff for supporting evidence, officials there said the comment referred to 9.5 million jobs created since Biden took office, and they stressed that the president said the plan "helped" drive the creation of those jobs. Official Bureau of Labor Statistics data confirms that a net 9.5 million jobs have been created since January 2021, when Biden took office. However, the White House’s use of this statistic in this way comes with some problems, including its timeline: The American Rescue Plan was enacted about two months into Biden’s presidency. So the law can’t be credited for jobs created before its passage. If you look only at the national payroll employment data for April 2021 to July 2022 — the most recent month for which data is available — it adds up to a net gain of 7.8 million jobs. That’s not the 10 million Biden touted. The second concern is that there is no clear evidence that all of those jobs resulted from the American Rescue Plan. The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the American Rescue Plan while it was being debated. Its analysts in February 2021 projected that even without the bill’s passage, employment would organically rise by 6.25 million jobs in 2021 and 1.74 million jobs in 2022. Given that economic activity was resuming after the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, "there was a lot going on in the economy irrespective of the American Rescue Plan," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank based in Washington. D.C. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 9, 2022 in a Facebook post “Donald Trump is back on Twitter,” thanks to Elon Musk. By Sara Swann • October 10, 2022 As it happened, the economy ended up exceeding that Congressional Budget Office projection, by about 477,000 jobs in 2021 and 1.1 million jobs in 2022. So the American Rescue Plan may deserve credit for accelerating the rate of job growth by nearly 1.6 million jobs beyond what the CBO had projected. With five months remaining in 2022, that total job growth can change, but as of now, the figure is well short of 10 million. Job creation also did not suddenly accelerate after the passage of the American Rescue Plan. The national payroll employment numbers show a steady month-by-month rise since the Donald Trump administration’s waning days. !function(e,i,n,s){var t="InfogramEmbeds",d=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement("script");o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src="https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js",d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,"infogram-async"); Economists agree that the law probably boosted job creation to some degree. But it’s unclear how much, and 10 million jobs seems unlikely, said Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C. "I don’t know the answer to that question, nor does anyone inside or outside the White House," Burtless said before offering a tongue-in-cheek estimate of his own. The correct answer, he said, "is, ‘More than 0.1% but less than 100%.’" Our ruling Biden said the American Rescue Plan "helped create nearly 10 million new jobs." Economists agree that the law probably helped boost job creation. But Biden’s 10 million figure is an exaggeration. Analysts with the Congressional Budget Office projected that, even without the law, about 8 million jobs would be added to the economy through the end of 2022. With five months still to go until year’s end, the U.S. is running at about 1.6 million new jobs above that projection, with perhaps more to come. Whether all 1.6 million of those excess jobs created resulted from the American Rescue Plan is open to debate, but even if they all did, it’s well short of 10 million. Biden gets credit for saying the law "helped" job growth, but his supporting data is exaggerated. We rate this statement Mostly Fals

Image shows "Florida's anti-woke banned book list. In recent weeks, social media users have criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his policies to crack down on classroom instruction around LGBTQ issues and race. The latest instance might have left some parents fearing for their school libraries. An image, circulating on Twitter and Facebook, ostensibly shows a "banned book list" in Florida. In a now-deleted tweet Aug. 21, an account named "Freesus Patriot," posted the image with the caption: "Florida's Anti-Woke banned book list." Featured Fact-check Joe Biden stated on October 23, 2022 in a forum with Now This Student loan forgiveness is “passed. I got it passed by a vote or two. And it’s in effect.” By Louis Jacobson • October 25, 2022 The term "anti-woke" is reminiscent of Florida's "Stop W.O.K.E. Act," which allows the state to regulate how race and gender is addressed in school. Although "Freesus Patriot" later said the list was satirical, some people thought it was authentic. The list featured 25 popular books, including Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird," Alice Walker’s "The Color Purple" and Madeleine L’Engle’s "A Wrinkle in Time." Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, tweeted "books we have taught for generations," alongside the list. She later said she should have "double-checked" before sharing. "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill also shared a screenshot of the list on Twitter — amassing more than 100,000 likes and 24,000 retweets. The Florida Department of Education did not respond to PolitiFact's request for comment. However, the governor's office called the list "completely fictitious." "The image is fake," said Bryan Griffin, DeSantis' press secretary. "There is no banned book list at the state level. The state sets guidelines regarding content, and the local school districts are responsible for enforcing them." Griffin also noted that the state’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking, or B.E.S.T., standards recommend several of the books included in the "anti-woke" list. "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Jack London’s "The Call of the Wild" are recommended to eighth graders in Florida. George Orwell’s "1984" is a suggested book for ninth graders, while John Steinbeck’s "Of Mice and Men" and William Golding’s "Lord of the Flies" is recommended for 10th graders. Florida adopted the B.E.S.T. standards, which measure literacy, after DeSantis eliminated Common Core educational standards in 2020. School districts across Florida have banned around 200 books, according to a report published by PEN America, a nonprofit that tracks book banning in the U.S. By PEN America’s count, Florida ranked third in the U.S. for books banned by schools from July 2021 to March 2022, trailing only Texas and Pennsylvania. Eight of the tweet’s 25 listed books were challenged in Florida's Indian River County School District in February — "The Color Purple," Margaret Atwood’s "The Handmaid's Tale"; Alex Gino’s "George"; Judy Blume’s "Forever"; Angie Thomas’ "The Hate U Give"; Khaled Hosseini’s "The Kite Runner"; Jay Asher’s "Thirteen Reasons Why"; and Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." The books were removed during an investigation, but the district later restored them, concluding they were appropriate for students. Likewise, Walton County in the Panhandle temporarily removed 58 books, including "George," "Forever," "The Hate U Give," "The Kite Runner," "Thirteen Reasons Why" and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," for review in April. "The books on this list have been banned before, some in prominent places; but they have not all been banned recently, and only some have been banned in Florida," said Summer Lopez, chief program officer at PEN America. HB 1467, which DeSantis signed into law, will require the state to publish a list of books challenged by parents — but won’t require their removal. The viral image doesn't depict an authentic list of books banned in schools across Florida. We rate claims that say it does False.

A New England Journal of Medicine study found that vaccinated people are “5X more contagious than the unvaccinated 10 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection. A new study did not prove that getting a COVID-19 vaccine could keep you contagious for longer if you’re infected with the virus compared with not getting vaccinated. But a social media post argued the contrary. An Aug. 18 YouTube video shared on Facebook claimed that a new study found that vaccinated people were "5X more contagious than the unvaccinated 10 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection." SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The video’s host displayed a screenshot of a New England Journal of Medicine study, which he said determined that "individuals fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 seem to recover markedly more slowly from the illness and surprisingly even remain contagious for lengthier periods of time as compared to the unvaccinated." Now more than ever, it’s important to sort fact from fiction. Please donate to support our mission. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from YouTube.) The video identified a study by Massachusetts researchers affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Ragon Institute, which studies immunology. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study July 21. From July 2021 to January 2022, the researchers asked 66 people with "newly diagnosed" COVID-19 to provide additional nasal swab samples three times a week for two weeks — or until they tested negative for COVID-19 with a PCR test. Researchers studied people infected with the delta or omicron BA.1 variant. Sixteen participants were unvaccinated, 37 were vaccinated and 13 were vaccinated and boosted. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 One of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Amy Barczak, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the study aimed to examine how long people infected with the delta or the omicron coronavirus variants shed detectable virus. Despite the video’s claims, the study did not find that people vaccinated against COVID-19 remain contagious longer or recover more slowly than people who were unvaccinated against the disease. "There would be no way to make this calculation from our data," Barczak said. In fact, the study reported no differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients when it came to the amount of time it took for a PCR test to switch from positive to negative or to the amount of time it took a culture test, or an attempt to grow live virus in culture from a nasal swab, to switch to negative. Study evaluated duration a person would shed infectious virus Barczak said the study’s key finding was that people infected with the delta or omicron variant shed virus and were thus potentially infectious for a median of six to eight days from the onset of symptoms or a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Some people remained potentially infectious for up to 10 days. In December 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended shortening the isolation period for people infected with COVID-19 in non-health-care settings from 10 days to five days. The study’s findings are important, Barzack said, "because it has implications for the time one should isolate after they develop SARS-CoV-2 to avoid infecting others." Researchers cautioned that the findings were limited by the small sample size of 66 COVID-19 cases. Our ruling A video shared on Facebook claimed that a study found that vaccinated people were "5X more contagious than the unvaccinated 10 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection." The study in question found that people infected with COVID-19’s delta or omicron variant shed virus and were potentially infectious for a median of six to eight days — and up to 10 days — after the onset of symptoms or their initial positive PCR test. It also reported no differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients when it came to the amount of time it took for a PCR or viral culture test to switch from positive to negative. We rate these claims Fals

A new Democratic law “will make the IRS workforce larger than the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, and Customs and Border Patrol, combined. Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., says a recent law signed by President Joe Biden will trigger runaway growth of the Internal Revenue Service. "This will make the IRS workforce larger than the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, and Customs and Border Patrol, combined," he wrote in an Aug. 12 statement. Cline was echoing a faulty Republican talking point about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a sweeping environmental and health care bill passed by Democrats earlier this month. The reforms will be largely paid for by increasing taxes on individuals and corporations earning more than $400,000 a year, and by expanding the IRS to crack down on unpaid taxes by wealthy filers. The IRS size comparison — Cline’s office and other Republicans said — comes from an Aug. 6 report from the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative political news website. "If Democrats have their way, one of the most detested federal agencies — the Internal Revenue Service — will employ more bureaucrats than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Border Patrol combined," the article said. "That would make the IRS one of the largest federal agencies." There’s no question the infusion of funds made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act will enlarge the IRS, which has experienced years of funding cuts and workforce losses. But a review of the best figures immediately available found Cline overstated just how large the IRS staff would grow compared to other agencies. Among the Republicans who made this flawed comparison is state Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, who is running for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by Elaine Luria, a Democrat. Misleading numbers Cline’s comparison is based on his faulty premise that the law will provide $80 billion to "double the size of the IRS, adding an army of 87,000 new enforcement agents." PolitiFact has repeatedly debunked similar statements. The $80 billion will pay for upgrading technology at the agency, as well as incrementally hiring new employees during the next 10 years. The 87,000 hiring figure is not set in stone; it’s based on a 2021 estimate by the Treasury Department. The Treasury said it will be several months before it comes up with a final spending plan. Cline’s statement is also misleading because not all of the new IRS employees will work in tax enforcement; many will work in IT, others in customer service. And not all of them will be new employees added to the overall workforce. Many of the hires will replace an estimated 50,000 IRS workers who are expected to retire or leave for other reasons during the next six years. The IRS now has about 79,000 full time staffers. The Washington Post has reported the staff will grow by about 30% during the next decade. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 Cline’s agency counts don’t add up To fairly compare the workforces mentioned by Cline against IRS growth, we searched for each agency’s "full-time equivalent" positions. Customs and Border Protection and the FBI list this information in their congressional budget requests. Cline also included the Pentagon and the State Department in his list. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the Defense Department, but we were unable to immediately locate its employment figures in terms of FTEs. The State Department lists employment positions by bureau and agency, and we did not find a departmentwide FTE figure. Comparing a department like the IRS with a group of agencies, departments and offices is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. But we used the numbers that were available to assess the claim’s accuracy as best as possible. Here’s a breakdown of each organization's workforce using available figures: In 2022, Customs and Border Protection received funding for 58,475 full-time equivalent positions. The FBI in 2022 received funding for 36,172 full-time equivalent positions. The Defense Department has 785,200 civilian full-time equivalent positions. The Pentagon employs 27,000 of those positions. The State Department counts 77,227 employees overall (but it’s unclear whether those are full-time equivalent positions). The workforce of the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Customs and Border Protection combined is nearly 199,000. That’s about 34,000 more positions than the IRS would have if it added 87,000 new employees at once and none of its current 78,000 employees left, which is not what is planned. Our ruling Cline claimed that with the addition of 87,000 new agents, the IRS will be "larger than the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Customs and Border Protection and the State Department combined." The Inflation Reduction Act will provide funding that will allow the IRS to strengthen its workforce significantly, but just how that will play out is not set in stone. The best figures available strongly suggest the agency will not become as big as Cline has said. We rate Cline’s statement Mostly False.

"Biden is adding more IRS agents to investigate your taxes than we have detectives investigating every crime in the country. The Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act provides the IRS money to hire thousands more people over the next decade. Does that influx of new employees mean the ranks of the IRS will eclipse the number of police detectives employed in the United States? No. But an Instagram post from Aug. 17 suggests as much, showing a photo of a packed football stadium that the post says has a seating capacity of 87,000 — the same number of new employees the IRS should be able to hire between now and 2031. "There are approximately 800,000 police officers in the entire country, of which about 10% are criminal detectives," words above the image read. "Biden is adding more IRS agents to investigate your taxes than we have detectives investigating every crime in the country." This post was flagged as part of efforts by Facebook, which owns Instagram, to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Here are the actual numbers. According to the most recently available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were at least 665,380 officers across municipal police departments and sheriff’s offices in 2021. The agency counted 107,890 working detectives and criminal investigators nationally. These folks work in federal, state and local government; in colleges and universities; and in elementary and secondary schools. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 9, 2022 in a Facebook post “Donald Trump is back on Twitter,” thanks to Elon Musk. By Sara Swann • October 10, 2022 The landmark $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on Aug. 16 earmarks about $80 billion for the IRS to hire as many as 87,000 employees. But how the agency will use that money is not finalized. The 87,000 figure comes from a year-old Treasury Department assessment of how many full-time equivalent positions could be funded with the roughly $80 billion. Any additions will come as an expected 50,000 people are on track to retire in the next five to six years. The Treasury Department said in its 2021 plan that not all the hiring would be for tax enforcement positions and would not happen all at once — it would happen gradually through 2031. Other priorities included "modernizing antiquated information technology, and investing in meaningful taxpayer service." A National Treasury Employees Union spokesperson previously told PolitiFact that the net gain in employees after a decade would end up being "significantly less than 86,852" after expected departures. Our ruling An Instagram post claimed the number of expected new hires at the IRS would surpass the total number of working police detectives in the United States. The most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows there were about 107,890 detectives and investigators in the U.S. in 2021. The number of IRS employees expected to be hired over the next 10 years under the Inflation Reduction Act could total 87,000, but those figures are not final and are projected to be smaller. We rate this claim Fals

“Violent crime (is) at an all-time high. When it comes to making political endorsements, it makes sense that law enforcement groups would prioritize crime reduction. But the president of the North Carolina Troopers Association made a factual leap when announcing Aug. 10 that his organization would be endorsing U.S. Rep. Ted Budd over Democrat Cheri Beasley, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. "With violent crime at an all-time high, it is imperative we have a U.S. senator who will support law enforcement," association President Ben Kral said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Ted Budd is the best choice by far to be North Carolina’s next U.S. senator." Kral’s quote was also included on Budd’s campaign website. But historical data show violent crime is not at an all-time high — neither in North Carolina nor in the U.S. While violent crime has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say the overall rate of violent crime still falls far short of records from the early 1990s. PolitiFact North Carolina attempted to contact Kral by email and telephone. Debbie Wilborn, executive director of the troopers’ association, said in an email that there would be "no comment at this time." Not an ‘all-time’ high PolitiFact North Carolina reviewed data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and consulted multiple crime researchers to check Kral’s claim, the same way PolitiFact has checked similar claims in recent years. The FBI considers four specific offenses to be violent crimes because they involve force or the threat of force: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The bureau calculates a rate of violent crime by looking at the number of reported cases per 100,000 people. Violent crime rates calculated for 2020 and 2019, the most recent years available, fall well short of high rates documented in the early 1990s. In 2020, there were 398.5 violent crimes per 100,000 people in the U.S. and about 419.3 cases per 100,000 people in North Carolina. That was based on data received from nearly 16,000 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies. In 2019, the rate was 379.4 across the U.S. and 371.8 in North Carolina. Violent crime rates in the U.S. peaked at about 758 cases per 100,000 people in 1991 and 1992, according to FBI data dating back to 1985. They declined through the 1990s and into the 21st century until about 2004, when they rose slightly and hovered between a rate of 460 and 480 for about five years. The rates then fell below 400 for most of the 2010s, before rising again in 2020. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 15, 2022 in Instagram post Seattle authorities are investigating a string of serial killings. By Michael Majchrowicz • October 17, 2022 The arch of North Carolina’s violent crime rate is similar. The state’s crime rate peaked at 681 cases in 1992, only rising above the national average four times: 1998, 1999, 2008, and 2020. That year, North Carolina's rate of 419 was higher than the U.S. average of 398, but it was nowhere near the record. Violent crime was higher in the late 1980s and early 1990s in part because of the proliferation of crack cocaine, said James Alan Fox, a professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University. "It was the trafficking that was extremely competitive and violent. And the gangs were ruling the roost," Fox said in a phone interview. "We don't know what the statistics will be for 2022, but there's no way they’re going to be higher than they were back then." Experts told PolitiFact NC that mass shootings and other gun violence appear to be increasing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted the highest number of gun-related deaths on record in 2020, according to an analysis released this year by the Pew Research Center. However, researchers who track violent crime across U.S. cities say trends from this year don’t suggest a record-setting pace for violent crime as a whole. Although local data suggests that violent crime is on the rise in some parts of the country, the increases "are dwarfed by the amount of violent crime in the 1990s," Richard Berk, professor of Criminology and Statistics at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote earlier this year. "We have not returned to the bad old days." The Major Cities Chiefs Association tracks violent crime data from 70 large U.S. cities. Its recent midyear report showed rape and homicide cases to be down the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of last year, although Charlotte and Raleigh each posted four more homicide cases than the year prior. AH Datalytics, a firm that analyzes crime data, relies on the Major Cities Chiefs Association as part of its effort to track homicides in 90 cities across the U.S. On the whole, it found that homicide numbers were down 3.5% through the first half of 2022. Jeff Asher, a data analyst who co-founded the firm, said in an email that "2021 likely had the highest murder rate this century, but it was still down a good bit from the peak murder rate years in the early 1980s and 1990s." "Violent crime rates in general remain far lower than they were in the early 1990s," said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist who conducts research for the Council on Criminal Justice, which examines monthly crime rates in 29 American cities, including Raleigh. "Robbery and property crime rates rose during the first half of the year, but they, too, remain much lower than in the early ’90s. "I would say the state trooper is incorrect," Rosenfeld said in an email. Our ruling Kral, the president of the North Carolina Troopers Association, said that "violent crime [is] at an all-time high." Available data contradicts Kral’s statement and he didn’t offer any evidence to support it. We rate his claim Fals

The Inflation Reduction Act "doubles the size of the IRS, raises your taxes and spends billions on a green energy slush fund. Arkansas Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton isn’t up for re-election this year. But he ran a campaign ad attacking Democratic legislation that addresses climate change, raises the corporate tax rate and allows Medicare to negotiate prices on some drugs. The online ad claimed there’s more to the Inflation Reduction Act than Democrats say. "Only Democrats would call a bill that doubles the size of the IRS, raises your taxes and spends billions on a green energy slush fund the ‘Inflation Reduction Act," said the caption for the photo ad, which ran on Facebook and Instagram from Aug. 3 to Aug. 15, the day before President Joe Biden signed the measure into law. "Don’t let him raise your taxes and give the IRS more power," said text next to a photo that shows Biden appearing to scowl with his mouth open, as if in mid-yell. Overall, the ad is misleading. The IRS will certainly grow as a result of the funding, but it’s not proved that it will double in size. The tax increases are not on most Americans and, according to independent experts, the indirect effect on most Americans is likely to be offset by tax credits and other provisions. Cotton’s campaign and his Senate office did not respond to our requests for information, so we don’t know what in the bill Cotton is describing as a "green energy slush fund." Some critics of the Inflation Reduction Act have characterized a greenhouse gas reduction provision as a slush fund, a subjective term that suggests lax rules. Although there is flexibility in the provision, grants are to be awarded competitively to states and nonprofits and most of the money must go to low-income communities. Overview of the Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act would raise an estimated $737 billion in revenue and spend $437 billion over 10 years, according to a summary from Senate Democrats. The law includes a clean energy package costing $369 billion over 10 years; that includes $260 billion in clean-energy tax credits to boost investment in solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable energy. The law also establishes the right for Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers on some medications. And corporations that have profits exceeding $1 billion for three consecutive years will face a new minimum 15% tax on corporate "book income," generally, the amount companies report to investors. No Republican supported the measure. Here’s what Cotton’s ad gets right and wrong. ‘Doubles the size of the IRS’ This is unproved. The IRS has about 80,000 employees. The agency expects to lose about 50,000 workers over the next five or six years, largely from retirements. A May 2021 Treasury Department report said $80 billion would be enough to fund 87,000 full-time positions over 10 years. The report did not say all the hiring would be for auditor or other tax enforcement positions; it could also include "modernizing antiquated information technology." The Inflation Reduction Act will provide the IRS nearly $80 billion over the next decade. But the Treasury Department said it will be several months before it decides how to spend the money from the new law. ‘Raises your taxes’ This needs clarification. The Inflation Reduction Act directly levies tax increases only on very large corporations and high-earning money managers. For example, companies reporting at least $1 billion in profits would have to pay at least 15% in such taxes. This means that any impact on ordinary Americans would come from secondary effects — corporations tend to pass the cost of these tax increases to regular people through, for example, lower wages for workers. Featured Fact-check Rick Scott stated on October 30, 2022 in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" “All Democrats in the Senate and House voted to cut $280 billion out of Medicare just two months ago.” By Louis Jacobson • October 31, 2022 An analysis by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation found that every income group would lose about 1% in income from the secondary impact of tax changes in 2023 — and smaller amounts over the next nine years. However, the analysis did not factor in the ways the law’s other provisions would help Americans financially. Those include subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and tax credits for people who buy electric vehicles. Independent experts expect these benefits to cancel out, or reverse, the bill’s impacts on ordinary taxpayers. ‘Spends billions on a green energy slush fund’ "Slush fund" is a subjective and loaded term suggesting a secretive stash of money, or funds available for almost any purpose, with little or no oversight. We didn’t find evidence of that in the legislation; there are rules governing how and where grants are awarded. Because the bill passed through what is known as the reconciliation process, the amount of oversight that can be applied is limited. (Reconciliation overrides the filibuster rules in the Senate, allowing a bill to pass with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority.) Matt Weidinger, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, used the term "slush funds" in an opinion column about the legislation. He told PolitiFact he was referring to $27 billion that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said is for a "greenhouse gas reduction fund." (Weidinger said that Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the House Budget Committee’s ranking member, referred to this money as a slush fund.) The $27 billion would be for states, nonprofits and other entities to use on projects to reduce greenhouse gases, with 60% of the money earmarked for low-income communities, according to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Weidinger also cited another $5 billion in competitive grants for plans to reduce emissions and implementation grants, and $3 billion for environmental and climate justice block grants. That money "would flow broadly to states, tribes and municipalities for a variety of purposes," according to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Allowing the block grants to be used flexibly meets the "common description" of slush funds, Weidinger said. But block grants have been widely used by both Democratic and Republican administrations to provide fiscal flexibility in addressing problems. And there are provisions that counter the slush fund argument. Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that tracks the federal budget, said that because the law was adopted through budget reconciliation, "lawmakers can’t delve too far into prescriptive policy or structure on the funded programs." That’s because the "Byrd rule" essentially limits reconciliation to spending, revenue or debt limit, Ellis said. But Ellis said the $27 billion greenhouse gas reduction fund specifies that recipients be governments or nonprofits, sets aside funds for low-income communities and stipulates that funds must be competitively awarded. The Environmental Protection Agency will devise guidelines for implementing the program, he said. "That is why it is incumbent on Congress to do its job and conduct oversight of the implementation of these programs, particularly those created through reconciliation." He added: "I think calling it a slush fund goes too far unless Congress abdicates its responsibility." Our ruling Cotton said the Inflation Reduction Act "doubles the size of the IRS, raises your taxes and spends billions on a green energy slush fund." It is not proved that the IRS will double in size. The agency will get funding to hire as many as 87,000 employees over 10 years, but expects to lose 50,000 employees in the next five or six years. And the agency has not finalized how it will allocate the funds. The new law levies direct tax increases only on very large corporations and high-earning money managers. Independent experts expect that indirect effects of those hikes on most Americans will be offset by other provisions in the law, such as tax credits. Cotton did not provide evidence of a "slush fund." Other critics of the law have pointed to $27 billion for states and nonprofits to use on projects that reduce greenhouse gases as a "slush fund." There is flexibility in how that money should be spent, but there are also rules. For example, grants must be awarded competitively and most of the money must go to low-income communities. Cotton’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False. RELATED: Kevin McCarthy’s mostly false claim about an army of 87,000 IRS agents RELATED: No, Senate bill won’t strip $300 billion from Medicare RELATED: GOP claim on tax hikes in Democratic bill doesn’t factor in subsidies, savings RELATED: The Democrats’ overstated claim that the Inflation Reduction Act curbs debt, inflati

Quotes Sarah Palin as saying “when Jesus celebrated Easter with his disciples there were no Easter bunnies or egg hunts. With Sarah Palin attempting to mount a comeback into national politics with a run at a seat on the U.S. House of Representatives, a Facebook post has recirculated a fake quote from the former Alaska governor about her supposed views on Easter. The Aug. 21 post features an image of Palin alongside a quote attributed to her. "It makes me so darn angry how the liberals in this country are secularizing Christian holidays right out of existence," the quote reads. "When Jesus celebrated Easter with his disciples there were no Easter bunnies or egg hunts." A caption with the post reads "meet (Marjorie) Taylor Greene's mentor." Although Palin has been outspoken in the past about her Christian faith and the secular culture surrounding holidays like Christmas, the quote featured in the Facebook post is a complete fabrication. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The quote originated on a now-defunct satirical website called The Daily Currant in an article published Oct. 23, 2013, and titled "Sarah Palin Claims Jesus Celebrated Easter." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The article detailed a fake interview Palin gave in which she talked about how "all Christian holidays should return to the traditional version practiced by Jesus." Easter is a holiday observed by Christians in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion. The Daily Currant ceased publication in 2016, and an archive of the website's about section from 2015 makes it clear it was a satirical publication and that its "stories are purely fictional." "The Daily Currant is an English language online satirical newspaper that covers global politics, business, technology, entertainment, science, health and media," the section read. "Our mission is to ridicule the timid ignorance which obstructs our progress, and promote intelligence — which presses forward." Our ruling A Facebook post shared a quote from Palin regarding Jesus celebrating Easter. Palin never said the quote and it came from a now-defunct satirical website meant to show her as being ill-informed of the holiday, since it’s a celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. We rate this Pants on Fir

Video claims Google Street View shows Antarctica with green vegetation and brick buildings A secret is lurking on the surface of Antarctica, and the only way to uncover it is by accessing Google's Street View feature, according to a recent Facebook video. The video originally came from TikTok and features a user reacting to another video of a woman looking at a map of Antarctica on Google. "So for Antarctica to be completely covered in ice, that’s what we’ve been taught all my life, why, when you go on Google Maps, does it show this," the woman says as the video switches from a map view of the icy continent to a street view showing a green, tree-lined landscape with buildings. "Now, I know I smoke a lot of weed, but this s--- ain’t adding up," the woman says. "I mean, where’s the snow?" The woman urges viewers to go on Google and check out the street view for themselves. But the terrain featured in the video isn’t actually in Antarctica. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Conspiracy theories related to the continent are not new. PolitiFact has checked false claims that Antarctica contained a secret entrance to a hidden world inside the Earth, that it had ancient pyramids and that it’s not a real continent. We attempted to recreate what was shown in the video by using the Google Earth phone application and Google Maps on a web browser to visit the coordinates in Antarctica used by the woman. There was no Street View option available for the area, and the only images associated with the coordinates showed people standing in snow. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 29, 2022 in Instagram post Photo shows Stanford scientists' "3D model of how Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ, might have looked.” By Michael Majchrowicz • November 4, 2022 A closer look of the landscape revealed it did not come directly from Google but rather from a person using the company's Photo Sphere feature, which allows anyone to create and upload a 360-degree image to Street View to a location of their choosing. Google did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment about the company’s Photo Sphere feature and the TikTok video. We ran a screenshot of the video through a Google reverse image search, which revealed it’s actually of a college campus in Jabalpur, India — about 7,354 miles from Antarctica. Using a satellite image of the area, we were able to match several landmarks and buildings featured in the video with those on the Jabalpur campus. Despite trees and shrubs being unable to grow in Antarctica, the continent is home to two types of plants — the Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. Even so, detailed satellite images show that Antarctica remains covered in snow, with no large patches of green in sight. Our ruling A Facebook user shared a video from TikTok showing a woman accessing a map of Antarctica on Google. The woman shows what she claims is a Street View of the continent featuring a green, tree-lined landscape instead of snow. There is no Street View feature available on Antarctica showing a similar landscape, and the image featured in the video was submitted by a user on Google and not by the company itself. A reverse image search revealed the landscape is actually of a college campus in India. We rate this Fals

“People born before 1957 are getting $1,728 added to their Social Security checks. Older Americans wishing for a few more bucks as inflation sends prices higher should not pin their hopes on a recent Facebook post promising nearly $2,000. "People born before 1957 are getting $1,728 added to their Social Security checks if they register below," reads the text in a July 21 Facebook post. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post linked to a website with a "savingpower.life" url that says "giving up to $1,728 yearly SS check boost to seniors age 65+." "If you are currently enrolled in Medicare, a latest ‘giveback’ benefit program is giving up to $1,728 yearly boost to SS checks," the site said. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 or older. The site guides users through questions about name, age and location and ends on a page promising "great news!" Viewing the results requires entering an email and phone number, but we found that entering a fake email and phone number worked just fine for this fact-check. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The "great news" on the next page is not $1,728, but advertisements for Medicare supplement insurance. This site is affiliated with neither the Social Security Administration nor the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told PolitiFact that the claim in the post is "false information." In a statement, the spokesperson said that "CMS is making no such payments" and noted that "scammers target people with Medicare, as older Americans are particularly vulnerable to fraud and scams." Medicare beneficiaries should share their Medicare number only with their doctor, pharmacist, hospital, health insurer, or other trusted healthcare provider, the agency said. A Social Security Administration spokesperson told PolitiFact that "if people have questions about the validity of any of the programs administered by Social Security, we encourage them to visit our website for the most accurate and up-to-date information." We found no $1,728 entitlement on the agency’s website. We rate this post False.

“96% of U.S. climate data is corrupted. Global temperatures are rising, and there is ample evidence to support that fact. But that hasn’t stopped some people from claiming they’ve found proof that climate change concerns are overblown. An article circulating on Facebook claims that U.S. agencies’ use of flawed data exaggerates the severity of climate change. "96% of U.S. climate data is corrupted," reads the headline of one July 27 blog post from the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank. "Official NOAA temperature stations produce corrupted data due to purposeful placement in man-made hot spots," the blog post said, referring to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The Heartland Institute cited a report it paid for and produced. That report analyzed a small sample of 128 temperature stations out of several thousand volunteer-run stations and found that 96% of them failed to meet NOAA placement recommendations. It appears those findings were extrapolated to conclude that the placement of these temperature stations "strongly undermines" the legitimacy and magnitude of long-term climate change trends. "The correct approach is to write a scientific paper and submit it to a scientific journal," said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist currently serving as research lead at Stripe, a San Francisco-based technology company. "In this specific case, the author of the report, Anthony Watts, submitted a paper on the topic around 10 years ago, but was unable to successfully convince other scientists of the validity of his findings and to pass the peer review process." Donald J. Wuebbles, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Illinois, characterized Watts as a "well-known climate denialist." With that in mind, we set out to learn more about data collection and climate change. How data is collected Scientists, volunteers and automated instruments collect climate data such as air chemistry, temperature, precipitation and wind speed, according to NOAA. Instruments carried on balloons can provide data from points more than 10 miles high. Satellites track temperature, winds and clouds. NOAA and the National Weather Service have two programs that monitor weather conditions in the U.S., said Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, a Berkeley, California, organization providing global temperature data. One program, the Cooperative Observer Program (COOP), relies on more than 8,700 volunteers who record daily temperature data using weather monitoring equipment. The other program is a network of about 900 more sophisticated, automated weather stations often set up in connection with airports or weather bureaus, Rohde said. The standards for installing those stations are more rigorous than Cooperative Observer Program stations, he said. The Heartland report looks exclusively at 128 COOP stations of thousands. Rohde said that "immediately undermined" its conclusion that 96% of climate data is corrupt. It is unclear how those stations were selected. According to National Weather Service instructions, COOP stations should be installed over level terrain at least 100 feet from "any extensive concrete or paved surface," and should not be placed where water or drifting snow collects. Rohde said that some COOP stations are closer than recommended to structures, artificial surfaces or vegetation. "In the worst cases, local impediments may greatly disturb the temperature readings reported," he said, resulting in temperature readings "dominated by the surfaces and other features in the immediate vicinity of the sensor." Going deeper into the data concerns The Heartland report argued that such temperature stations, which might be placed near structures or parking lots, resulted in corrupted data. But that allegation ignores key facts. First, climate scientists know that weather station data can be impacted by poor siting, and they adjust data accordingly. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 17, 2022 in a video Video shows “California sets their own forest fires and claims them as climate change effects.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 20, 2022 Second, climate change analysis focuses on changes over time. "Siting problems often cause the station to be consistently a bit too hot, or too cold, but that bias often remains more or less uniform over time," Rohde said. "In such cases, it may still be possible to estimate trends related to climate change even if the observations themselves are not ideal." Research has not proved that poor station siting results in biased conclusions, however. A 2013 study found that the network of stations can provide reliable data on temperature trends even when stations rated "poor" are included. NOAA spokesperson John Bateman told PolitiFact the agency has known about the concerns caused by problematic station sites for decades, and it has "developed techniques to account for and correct these potential problems." The Heartland Institute told PolitiFact that its conclusions were valid because experts did not disagree that some COOP stations are at sites that fail to meet NOAA’s quality recommendations. The group argued that because of those stations, any methods used to adjust the data and remove bias would "actually make the problem worse." Data is adjusted, corroborated and widely accepted In 2009, NOAA acknowledged that the placement of a number of temperature stations did not follow National Weather Service siting recommendations. Still, a peer-reviewed 2006 study that sought to evaluate the potential bias caused by poor station locations "found no bias in long-term trends," NOAA said. That study evaluated a small subset of data, so its conclusions had limitations. Researchers account for temperature station locations and measurement times, said Mark Richardson, a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies climate change. "So, even if a thermometer is in a warmer place, like a city, the effect of the local warmth is filtered out to prevent it from affecting trends." NOAA publishes U.S. weather station data online, and groups such as Berkeley Earth, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the United Kingdom’s Met Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency use it to build climate records. "The independent groups all agree about the pattern of U.S. and global temperature changes," Richardson said. Since 1880, average global temperature has increased by at least 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit (or 1.1 degrees Celsius), according to Goddard Institute for Space Studies’ temperature analysis. By way of comparison, Richardson said that the Earth cooled about 4 to 6 degrees Celsius tens of thousands of years ago and a nearly 4 kilometer thick mass of ice known as the Laurentide ice sheet spread over Canada and reached parts of the U.S. Awesome visualization and a much-needed update to Laurentide Ice Sheet margins thru time! https://t.co/RUxxFhrI1k— Dr. Katherine Glover (@gloverkatherine) March 11, 2020 "The warming rates we are living through are truly astonishing for Earth, even if they feel slow day to day," Richardson said. These trends are corroborated by data from temperature stations that are not in poorly placed areas. Wuebbles said satellite trends in temperature "exactly match the ground-based observations," but the Heartland Institute’s study does not analyze that corroboration. Our ruling A headline on Facebook claimed "96% of U.S. climate data is corrupted" because the NOAA’s temperature stations were purposefully placed "in man-made hot spots." Although some temperature stations are not placed in ideal conditions, experts said they are there to provide a consistent historical record and added that the data is evaluated and adjusted for biases. There is widespread consensus that annual global average temperatures are rising, experts said. We rate this claim False. RELATED: Kilimanjaro’s ice fields didn’t disappear by 2020. That doesn’t mean climate change isn’t happening RELATED: What does extreme weather tell us about climate chang

Video implies talk between Barack Obama and Kamala Harris has coded references to pedophilia A Facebook post resurfaced a video related to the Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories and tried to link a 2020 conversation between former U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris to pedophilia. The Aug. 15 post reshared a TikTok video that begins by showing what it claims to be an official document of "pedo code words from FBI." (Pedo is short for pedophile.) The alleged document lists individual food items and what they correspond to when reportedly used by pedophiles. Based on the list in the video, "hot dog" would be the code word for "boy," "pizza" for "girl," "pasta" for "little boy," "ice cream" for "male prostitute" and "sauce" for "orgy." The video then shows a screenshot of what it claims to be an email obtained by WikiLeaks sent by former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to Obama when he was president. The email includes mentions of pizza and hot dog arrangements being made at the White House. The video ends with a clip of Harris asking Obama about his relationship with President Joe Biden as dramatic music plays. The clip was taken from a September 2020 video from Biden’s presidential campaign. "Tell me about Joe and your relationship with Joe and what do I need to know," Harris says. "Like, what's the thing about the ice cream? He loves ice cream — tell me about that." Obama responds by saying "ice cream is big. Pasta with red sauce ... he can go deep on that." Although the TikTok video and Facebook post are implying the exchange is a coded conversation about pedophilia, it has no basis in reality; the FBI document and email shown in it are fakes. Versions of the claim have shown up elsewhere on the internet since the campaign video was released. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 27, 2022 in a post Video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene planted pipe bombs at Republican and Democratic party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. By Gabrielle Settles • October 31, 2022 What are Pizzagate and QAnon? The Pizzagate conspiracy theory began to spread during the 2016 presidential election when WikiLeaks published emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chair. A group of users on the unmoderated online forum 4chan noticed an email exchange between Podesta and the owner of Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C., about a potential Clinton fundraiser at the restaurant. They believed the exchange was a coded conversation about pedophilia and that the pizzeria was holding children hostage as part of a trafficking ring involving Clinton. Some people were so convinced the Pizzagate conspiracy theory was true that a North Carolina man went to the restaurant in December 2016 and fired an assault rifle inside as part of an effort to "self-investigate" the claims. The man turned himself over to police officers, and no one was injured during the incident. Pizzagate preceded the QAnon conspiracy theory. QAnon involves forum posts from an anonymous person called Q, who claims to be a government insider with high-ranking military information about how the "deep state" was working against former President Donald Trump and his administration. (The "deep state" is a term conspiracy theorists use to describe what they claim is a secretive network of civilian and military officials thought to undermine or control democratically elected governments.) A core QAnon belief is that Trump was elected president to secretly fight against a cabal of satanic pedophiles composed of prominent Democrats and celebrities who were operating a worldwide sex-trafficking ring. The FBI document and WikiLeaks email The FBI document featured in the video does not exist. Instead, it's a combination of a real intelligence bulletin from the federal agency and a post from 4chan. The FBI bulletin included a list of symbols and logos pedophiles use to identify their sexual preferences, but does not mention of food items being used as code words. The list of code words appears to have come from an anonymous user on 4chan and not any law enforcement agency. The email shown in the video also does not exist and appears similar to a debunked claim that Obama spent $65,000 on child prostitution. A search of WikiLeaks’ database using phrases from the email yielded no results. Our ruling A Facebook post shared a TikTok video that implied a conversation between Obama and Harris was filled with coded messages about pedophilia. The video is connected to the debunked Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories, which accuse prominent Democrats and celebrities of involvement in a satanic child sex-trafficking ring. Faked documents are used in the video as an attempt to support the baseless assertion. We rate this Pants on Fir

The Inflation Reduction Act expanded free health insurance to Americans under 65 The United States spends more on health care than other industrialized countries, so a recent Facebook post touting free insurance for Americans younger than 65 might be welcome news. "$0 health insurance is here!" the Aug. 7 Facebook post says. "Congress approves $700bn package, $0 health insurance expanded to Americans under 65." The post encourages users to "see if you qualify now" by clicking on the post. Doing so opens a Facebook Messenger conversation between the user and the Facebook account that posted the supposedly good news. But one user wasn’t convinced, and lef a review on the page that denounced the promise of free health care as just "another scam on Facebook" and claimed the account was trying to steal users’ identities. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) On Aug. 16, President Joe Biden passed a $740 billion reconciliation bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act. It’s being called the most significant health care legislation since the Affordable Care Act, but it didn’t expand free insurance to a huge swath of Americans. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Although the White House said the bill "lowers health care costs for Americans nationwide," it wasn’t lowered so much that about 80% of Americans will now pay nothing. We’ve already reported on what the bill does accomplish, however. It establishes the right for Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers on some medications. It also extends expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace coverage, Kaiser Family Foundation reported. That means more financial help will be available to people who are already eligible for subsidized plans and more people who previously weren’t. For Medicare patients, there’s a $35 monthly cap on insulin and a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drugs, and older Americans won’t be stuck with a co-pay for vaccines against illnesses such as shingles. We rate claims that the bill expands free health insurance for Americans younger than 65 False.

“Tulsi Gabbard Venmos Nancy Pelosi $600.01 forcing the IRS to audit Pelosi’s finances. Some social media users are earnestly sharing an image of a tweet about some passive aggressive politics. "BREAKING: Tulsi Gabbard Venmos Nanci Pelosi $600.01 forcing the IRS to audit Pelosi’s finances," the headline says, misspelling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s first name. Among the accounts sharing it was Raven Harrison, a Republican who recently ran for a Texas seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but was defeated in the primary. "Troll level: MAGA," Harrison wrote sharing the tweet. Posts sharing this image were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The account that tweeted that apparent spat between Pelosi, D-Calif, and Gabbard, a former Democratic U.S. representative from Hawaii, regularly shares satire. It is connected to Genesius Times, a self-described satire site that claims to post "the most reliable source of fake news on the planet." A fake story about the supposed Pelosi-Gabbard conflict was posted there. We found no credible news reports that this actually happened. RELATED VIDEO We’ve previously reported on claims about federal plans to monitor Venmo. The American Rescue Plan, which Congress passed in March 2021, had a provision requiring cash apps like Venmo to file information reports on commercial transactions exceeding $600. Before this new law, cash apps were required to report only business transactions exceeding $20,000 for accounts with at least 200 separate payments in a calendar year. We rate claims that Gabbard sent Pelosi this money via Venmo False.

"We also know (the Sierra Club) paid for those reporters" at the Palm Beach Post Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried falsely claimed reporters who examined her policies on sugar cane burning were paid by environmental activists. Fried's comment followed the publication of a 6,000-word investigation by The Palm Beach Post into Fried's promise as agriculture commissioner to make "historic changes" to sugar cane harvesting. The Post's Aug. 11 report found that her changes to the state's burn program failed to address the health risks people in Palm Beach County may face because of pollution. It also noted that Fried's political committee receives contributions from groups largely funded by the sugar industry. The sugar industry's practice of burning acres of cane fields is a harvesting technique to rid the plant of its tough outer layer, according to the Post. Fried went beyond simply dismissing the story when a reporter covering one of her campaign events asked her about its findings. She said the Sierra Club, an environmental group, wanted her to ban sugar cane burning. "The Sierra Club had one mission and one mission only," Fried said in Tallahassee on Aug. 14. "It's unfortunate they didn't recognize all the other tremendous achievements our department made." When pressed further, she said: "We also know they paid for those reporters." It's not unusual for a politician to say unfavorable coverage is inaccurate or biased. But Fried's claim suggested journalistic corruption. PolitiFact found no evidence to support Fried's accusation. The commissioner's office said it would not answer specific questions about the claim. Her campaign did not return multiple requests for comment. The Sierra Club doesn't fund the Palm Beach Post When we asked the Post about Fried's claim, Executive Editor Rick Christie said none of the reporters, photographers or editors assigned to the latest investigation were paid by an outside entity, let alone the Sierra Club. "It is unfortunate that the agriculture commissioner felt the need to initiate and propagate an outright falsehood," Christie said. "We stand by our reporting." Fried's comments were criticized by other Post reporters who called her rhetoric ​​"dangerous." Fried elaborated on Twitter after the campaign stop: "It's something I've heard — hope it's not true." She did not clarify where she heard the allegation. Fried's office only pointed to an Aug. 15 article by the Capitolist to support her claim. Featured Fact-check Rebekah Jones stated on October 26, 2022 in a post on Instagram Document shows Rebekah Jones “demonstrated” a violation of Florida’s Whistleblower Act. By Sara Swann • November 1, 2022 The Capitolist is a business and politics website with a questionable relationship with the state's largest power utility, Florida Power & light. Consultants hired by Florida Power & Light bought a controlling stake in the website ahead of the 2020 election, the Miami Herald reported. Articles were also revealed to be pre-screened by the consultants. Florida Power & Light used the Capitolist to "settle scores and bend the will of regulators, politicians and the public," the Herald wrote. The Capitolist article Fried cited linked to its criticism of a 2021 investigation into sugar cane burning that the Palm Beach Post published in partnership with ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news site. As part of its Local Reporting Network, ProPublica provides grants to local news organizations for specific investigative journalism projects. A ProPublica grant funded the Post's 2021 investigation. In July 2021, the Capitolist said that the Post partnering with ProPublica for the investigation amounted to "a troubling and obvious controversy." It also attempted to link ProPublica to the Everglades Foundation, a group working to restore the Everglades. The Capitolist said both ProPublica and the Everglades Foundation received funding from the Knight Foundation, a longtime funder of journalism, communities and the arts. Robin Sparkman, ProPublica's president, told PolitiFact that funders don't have a say in which organizations the publication partners with and which stories it investigates. "They see our stories when the public sees them," Sparkman said. "Additionally, we have never solicited or received funding from The Sierra Club or The Everglades Foundation." The Capitolist reported that the Everglades Foundation invested in the Sierra Club, but it did not establish a credible connection between the Sierra Club and the Post. The Sierra Club also denied paying for press coverage of sugar cane harvesting. "There is absolutely no truth to Commissioner Fried's statement," said Patrick Ferguson, organizing representative for the Sierra Club of Florida. Our ruling Fried said the Sierra Club "paid for those reporters." There's no evidence for Fried's claim. The Palm Beach Post and Sierra Club rebutted Fried's accusation about the newspaper's coverage of sugar cane burning. An article highlighted by Fried's office did not uncover such a link, relying instead on a chain of association with no direct financial relationship. Fried suggested unfavorable coverage was a result of journalistic corruption. Her claim is not only wrong but ridiculous. Pants on Fir

Photos show “an IRS agent training class. You may have seen the online images showing people wearing protective vests and wielding fake handguns. "IRS CID POLICE" read the white letters emblazoned across their vests. "These are actual photos of an IRS agent training class," read one Facebook post of four such photos. Another post showed a video clip of some of the same people in the photos, describing it as a "new video and photos of agents training." These kinds of claims were further fueled by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who tweeted the images and said: "These are not auditions for the next Police Academy sequel. This is an actual IRS recruiting program." (Screenshot from Facebook) These posts are being shared online amid misinformation about IRS plans to increase its staffing and enforcement. And they were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The four photos and video don’t show IRS agents. They show accounting students at Stockton University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. The students are participating in a simulation of a mock criminal investigation, playing the role of IRS criminal investigations special agents. "Accountants don’t typically carry guns," a 2017 press release from Stockton University says about what it called a "hands-on lesson in IRS criminal investigations." "But, as 24 accounting students at Stockton University learned, being a special agent for IRS Criminal Investigations means you might uncover a money laundering operation for terrorists, resulting in an armed raid." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The students reviewed bank statements, invoices and tax returns. They surveilled and interrogated witnesses. They requested arrest and search warrants. The simulation was part of what’s called the "Adrian Project," an IRS program that visits college and university campuses "to provide students with a firsthand look at what it’s like for IRS special agents to carry out an investigation, tracking illicit money from the crime to the criminal," according to the agency. Stockton professors have said they brought the program there to expose students to different types of careers in accounting. IRS Criminal Investigation is a division of the IRS, and its agents have been armed for more than a century. These federal employees also aren’t the typical auditors that Americans facing routine audits will encounter. The notorious gangster Al Capone, for example, was investigated by the division, then called the Intelligence Unit, and later convicted on tax evasion charges. More recently, criminal investigation agents have been part of a task force tracking down the assets of Russian oligarchs. We rate claims that these photos show an IRS agent training class False. RELATED: Video misleads about size of IRS, audits and armed agents RELATED: Kevin McCarthy’s mostly false claim about an army of 87,000 IRS agen

Photo shows parents who changed their baby’s gender identity An image of a couple holding a baby is being shared on social media under a title sure to grab attention. "Discovering our baby was trans was an emotional roller coaster," it says. More details are provided below the photo. "When little DeSquarious (gendered birth name) crawled to the blue card we were both a little disappointed," the text says. "However, this was best 2 out of 3 so we knew there was still a chance. Then a miracle happened. DeSquarious crawled to the link card the next 2 times and became LaSquarious Jackson! Our little beautiful trans girl is now ready to take on the world! It’s been a long road getting here." One post sharing the image said: "I’m sick of this twisted agenda being pushed on our children/youth. This baby boy has no idea yet the wickedness surrounding him. He hasn’t even had a chance in life yet to grow into the man he’s destined to be. I’m baffled. This is pure CHILD ABUSE." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 A reverse image search of the photo led us to a 2017 article in the Independent about two transgender partners who "put their transitions on hold to allow them to have a biological child." They had a daughter, who was one at the time the feature was published. There’s no mention in the story of her gender identity changing, and the child’s name is not either of the names that appear in the Facebook post. A similar story about the family that appeared in the New York Post did not contain those details either. We also found a blog post about the family when the baby was four months old. She was then described as the couple’s daughter, and she had the same name that appeared in the later news stories. Most babies start to crawl between seven and nine months of age, according to the Mayo Clinic. Searching for the title that appears in the post, we found it only on a meme site. There’s no credible source to corroborate this claim. We rate it Pants on Fire!

“El congreso acaba de aprobar un reciente proyecto de ley para todos los que tengan más de $10,000 de deuda” El Presidente Joe Biden firmó la Ley de Reducción de la Inflación aprobada por el congreso el 16 de agosto. Esta ley aborda temas económicos, de salud y del medio ambiente. Sin embargo, no incluye un programa de alivio para las personas con más de $10,000 de deuda, como afirma erróneamente un video en Facebook. "¡Libérate de esa deuda hoy mismo!" dice la publicación del 15 de agosto en Facebook, acompañada por un video en el que la narradora dice haber recibido asistencia por parte de un "reciente proyecto de ley" con el cual $17,000 de sus deudas desaparecieron. "El congreso acaba de aprobar un reciente proyecto de ley para todos los que tengan más de $10,000 de deuda", dice el video. "Puedes acogerte a este nuevo programa que te permitirá pagar todas tus deudas si solicitas este nuevo incentivo aprobado por el estado. Este programa termina esta semana el 20 de agosto". Según el video, uno puede obtener esta asistencia visitando un sitio web en el cual puede "introducir la cantidad de deuda que tiene, y obtener la calificación". Otros videos alegan cosas similares. El post fue marcado como parte del esfuerzo de Facebook para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Facebook.) Aunque el programa que promociona el video suena útil, no hay evidencia de que el congreso lo haya creado o aprobado. "No estoy consciente de que exista un programa federal de ese estilo", dijo Andrew Pizor, abogado del Centro Nacional de Leyes del Consumidor (NCLC, por sus siglas en inglés). El gobierno de Estados Unidos provee programas de alivio para ciertas deudas como la deuda de préstamos estudiantiles para algunas personas que trabajan para el gobierno o una organización sin fines de lucro. Pero según la organización Debt.com, la cual proporciona educación financiera, no existen programas por parte del gobierno para aliviar la deuda de tarjetas de crédito. En su lugar, el gobierno mantiene una lista de asesores crediticios certificados. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 Las compañías privadas que asisten con el alivio de deudas no cobran dinero antes de ayudar, no garantizan eliminar deudas y no dicen que tienen acceso a programas de asistencia del gobierno, según la Comisión Federal de Comercio (FTC, por sus siglas en inglés). La agencia de protección al consumidor nacional, tiene recursos para evitar caer en estafas y maneras de reportar posibles fraudes. El video publicado en Facebook, dice tener acceso a un programa del gobierno, promete eliminar las deudas y da una fecha de vencimiento del 20 de agosto para asegurar que la gente reciba esta supuesta ayuda. No hay evidencia de que el programa patrocinado sea verídico. No han habido programas de alivio de deuda aprobados por el congreso, tanto en la Ley de Reducción de la Inflación, como en otras leyes aprobadas recientemente. Nuestra calificación Un video publicado en Facebook dice que "el congreso acaba de aprobar un reciente proyecto de ley para todos los que tengan más de $10,000 de deuda". No hay evidencia de que el congreso haya creado o aprobado este programa. El gobierno de Estados Unidos no tiene programas de alivio de deuda de tarjeta de crédito, pero si tiene una lista de asesores crediticios certificados. Según la FTC, estas organizaciones no cobran dinero antes de ayudar, no garantizan eliminar deudas y no dicen que tienen acceso a programas de asistencia del gobierno. Calificamos la publicación como Falsa. CORRECCIÓN, 26 de agosto, 2022: Este artículo ha sido actualizado para reflejar el apellido correcto de Andrew Pizo

Says Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson “called climate change ‘bull----’ during a record heatwave” and “raked in over $700k in fossil fuel cash. With passage by Democrats of a new measure aimed squarely at tackling climate change, the issue is taking on a new urgency in the fall election. Those who opposed the measure, including U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are being targeted by environmental groups and others. That includes the claim of using an expletive to dismiss climate change, and pulling in campaign money from oil and gas companies. In an Aug. 13, 2022, tweet, the League of Conservation Voters took aim at Johnson, saying he "called climate change ‘bull - - - -’ during a record heatwave" and "raked in over $700k in fossil fuel cash." Let’s take a closer look at both parts of that claim. Caught on camera So did Johnson make light of climate change? While speaking to the Republican Women of Greater Wisconsin on June 5, 2021, Johnson’s speech did, in fact, turn to climate change. "I don’t know about you guys, but I think climate change — as Lord Monckton said — bull - - - -," Johnson said, based on a video of the luncheon. He was referring to Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted British climate change skeptic, and mouthed the expletive before adding aloud: "By the way, it is." Legions of scientists have researched climate change and determined it is real, with its impact seen in heat waves and drought in some areas, and rising sea levels in others. When asked later about his comments by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson tried to soften the remark a bit, saying that he is not a climate change denier, nor is he a climate change alarmist. "Climate is not static," he said. "It has always changed and always will change." But the bottomline: Yes, Johnson was caught on video referring to climate change that way. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 25, 2022 in an Instagram post The documentary “2,000 Mules proves” Democrats “cheated on the 2020 elections.” By Jon Greenberg • October 28, 2022 Johnson’s finances show donations from large energy companies So, what about the second part of the tweet? Exactly how much has Johnson gotten from the oil and gas industry? When we asked for backup for the claim, David Willett, senior vice president of communications for the League of Conservation Voters, said the information came from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit research group that tracks money in politics. According to OpenSecrets, Johnson has taken $753,247 from the oil and gas industry since 2009. That period covers Johnson’s entire tenure in office, since he first won election in 2010. The site does not further break down how that money was spent on Johnson. It doesn’t say whether the money was directly contributed to Johnson’s campaign or whether other groups spent it on his behalf, such as for ads against opponents during an election. Included in the donors to Johnson is Koch Industries, which does some work in the oil and gas industry. Donors affiliated with the company have contributed about $67,000. As a point of reference, Johnson is far from the top recipient of donations by the industry. U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has received more than $8 million in donations during his time in office, while U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, has taken over $4.1 million. In fact, Johnson doesn’t even crack the top 20 recipients in Congress of oil and gas industry donations, according to OpenSecrets. Neither is the oil and gas industry the largest contributor to Johnson, according to OpenSecrets. Over the years, securities and investment, real estate and manufacturing have been some of the largest industry donors. Our ruling The League of Conservation Voters claimed Johnson "called climate change ‘bull - - - -’ during a record heatwave" and "raked in over $700k in fossil fuel cash." Both parts of the claim check out, from a much-publicized comment made at a luncheon in 2021 to publicly available campaign contributions, as organized and analyzed by a reputable nonpartisan group. Indeed, Johnson has actually received more than $750,000 from the oil, gas and energy industry since the 2010 election, though it’s far from his biggest source of money — and he’s far from the top recipients in Congress. We rate this claim True. window.gciAnalyticsUAID = 'PMJS-TEALIUM-COBRAND'; window.gciAnalyticsLoadEvents = false; window.gciAnalytics.view({ 'event-type': 'pageview', 'content-type': 'interactives', 'content-ssts-section': 'news', 'content-ssts-subsection': 'news:politics', 'content-ssts-topic': 'news:politics:politifactwisconsin', 'content-ssts-subtopic': ' news:politics:politifactwisconsin' });

Amazon is “running a promotion and giving away random packages for just $1! What’s in that box? A new iPhone or a fancy kitchen gadget? It’s all part of a $1 Amazon offer shared on Facebook that seems so good it makes Prime Day look overpriced. But it’s not a deal; it’s a scam. Several Facebook posts allege that Amazon has so many lost and unclaimed packages piling up in its warehouses that the company is offering them to customers for only $1 apiece. "By rule, Amazon can throw these packages away, but now they're running a promotion and giving away random packages for just $1! You can easily get appliances, iPhones, kitchen items, or other items!" one post read. Some of the posts link to a sign-up form to receive one of these packages. But before you spend your hard-earned buck, pump the brakes — that link leads to malware. The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) We clicked the link in one of the Facebook posts and immediately got a Google warning that it was a deceptive site called noriat.com. We entered the site into ScamAdviser.com, which rates websites for their trustworthiness and got an extremely low Trustscore — just 1 out of 100. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Other Facebook posts used different links advertising parcels for around $1. But we found that the results were the same — they all lead to faulty websites; none of these posts came from Amazon. We reached out to Amazon for comment, but received no response. In an article about staying safe from malware, the University of Georgia’s CAES Office of Information and Technology said a link’s being published on Facebook doesn’t mean it’s safe, "There are many malicious sites designed to be shared on Facebook and bring victims to their site," the story said. "Facebook has been cracking down on this and while the results are positive, you should still be cautious of what you click." Postal Times, a website aggregating postal news, reported that it is legal to buy unclaimed packages from both Amazon and the United States Postal Service, but there’s a safer way to do it. As The New York Times reported in June, companies such as Liquidity Services collect surplus and returned goods from major retailers like Amazon and resell them, often for cents on the dollar. Liquidation.com auctions Amazon parcels on which people can bid. CNET reports that packages have also been sold at local swap meets. NPR has also highlighted YouTubers who buy pallets of returned goods at auction and reveal the contents. Our ruling Facebook posts shared a claim that Amazon is offering unclaimed boxes of random items for $1. But the link in these Facebook posts leads to a malware site with a high potential for harming the devices of people who click on it. While the Facebook posts are fake, people can buy unclaimed Amazon parcels through legitimate websites like Liquidation.com. We rate the Facebook claim that Amazon is selling boxes for $1 False

Video shows Mitch McConnell saying Nancy Pelosi “should be jailed! As congressional party leaders, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sometimes pillory each other in public. But a recent video being shared on Facebook does not reveal what posts claim. "‘She should be JAILED!’ Mitch McConnell EXPOSED Nancy Pelosi to her face in Congress," an Aug. 16 post sharing the video says. It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The video features two clips of McConnell, and in neither does he suggest that Pelosi — or anyone — should be jailed. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 In the first clip, from March 2019, McConnell, R-Ky., urged the House to pass legislation related to the Middle East. In the second, from February 2021, McConnell criticized Pelosi, D-Calif., and described as "partisan" her push for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. RELATED VIDEO We searched Nexis news archives and looked more broadly online for instances of McConnell claiming that Pelosi should be jailed, and we found no credible sources for such a claim. We rate this post False.

"The IRS is about to double in size, with 87,000 new armed agents and an additional $80 billion in order to primarily enhance IRS enforcement and operations. If you read and believe all you see on social media, you might be worried that the IRS is about to hire thousands of agents who will be auditing you at gunpoint. That’s not what’s happening. But the narrative has exploded in social media posts, videos and political commentary. "The IRS is about to double in size, with 87,000 new armed agents and an additional $80 billion in order to primarily enhance IRS enforcement and operations," read the caption on one such Facebook video. The Aug. 16 post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The video went on to claim that the IRS is stockpiling ammunition. That’s False. And it said that the agency will now have more employees than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and Border Patrol combined. That’s misleading and ignores a lot of details. The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law this week by President Joe Biden does include $80 billion in new funding for the IRS. But the claim in this caption and others like it mischaracterize how large the agency will become as a result — and it suggests that any new hires made will be for armed agents. That’s wrong. Here’s what we know about what the new IRS funding means for the agency and for taxpayers. Tax enforcement The $80 billion in new funding would come over 10 years and is primarily to enhance enforcement and operations at the agency. About $46 billion is targeted specifically for enforcement, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis. The aim is to boost collections by $204 billion. The rest of the money is designated for operations, taxpayer services and modernizing business systems, the CRS analysis says. But that doesn’t mean most Americans should now expect to be audited. The agency said it will use the money to target corporations and people making over $400,000. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said as much in an Aug. 4 letter to Congress. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen drove the point home again in an Aug. 10 letter to Rettig, writing, "contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited." The new hires The 87,000 staffing number cited here and elsewhere stems from a 2021 assessment from the Treasury Department on how it would use the $80 billion. That report (on page 16) said the funding could pay for 86,852 new full-time equivalent positions, also called FTEs. The agency has undergone years of funding and staffing cuts and currently has about 80,000 employees. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post “Nancy Pelosi (purchased) 10,000 shares of Amgen, manufacturer of Nplate, a drug used to treat radiation sickness.” By Sara Swann • October 25, 2022 The report also said that not all new hires would work as auditors or in enforcement, and that the money will also be used to upgrade technology and taxpayer services. The new hiring will take place over a 10-year period, and the number from the 2021 plan is not final, a Treasury Department official told us when we looked into a claim from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about "an army of 87,000 IRS agents — with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k." We rated McCarthy's claim Mostly False. The agency will grow under the plan, but not as much as is being alleged. Half the current staff is close to retirement and about 50,000 are expected to leave in the next six years, said ​​Natasha Sarin, the Treasury Department’s counselor for tax policy and implementation. FBI and IRS agents in Puerto Rico remove documents from the main office of the San Juan municipality due to suspected irregularities in handling of U.S. funds for HIV-AIDS programs in 2006. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo) Armed agents The notion that new funding means a wave of 87,000 armed agents coming to collect your taxes distorts matters. The false claim drew traction after a job posting for a special agent that listed such requirements as carrying a firearm and the willingness to use deadly force was misrepresented online, according to The Associated Press. The IRS does have a Criminal Investigation division that has been around for more than a century. Those special agents are federal law enforcement officers and carry weapons. There were 2,046 IRS special agents in 2021, a number that has been consistent over recent decades, according to a 2017 report. One job posting said the agency’s investigation division currently has 300 vacancies. Those agents target crimes involving money laundering, cybercrime, narcotics and more. Taxpayers facing routine audits won’t encounter a special agent. Most routine audits are done by mail, depending on the complexity of the audit. In 2018 about 75% of audits were by mail. Our ruling A Facebook video claims that "the IRS is about to double in size, with 87,000 new armed agents and an additional $80 billion in order to primarily enhance IRS enforcement and operations." Biden has approved $80 billion for the IRS to enhance enforcement and operations. But the agency is not doubling in size nor is it newly arming its agents. Many of the new hires will be made over a 10-year period, and will come as the agency prepares for about 50,000 retirements over five to six years. For more than a century, the IRS has had a small armed division of agents who are assigned to respond to criminal investigations. The vast majority of IRS employees are not armed, however, and this funding will not change that. Routine audits are usually done by mail. We rate this claim Mostly False. RELATED VIDEO

Video shows former President Barack Obama sharing how to mislead the public A speech about the dangers of disinformation that former President Barack Obama gave at Stanford University on April 21, 2022, is being used months later on social media to spread disinformation. "Is he on offense or defense?" read text overlaying a shortened TikTok video created April 30. "Notice he says ‘the game’s won,’ not the game is over." In the tightly cropped, black-and-white video, Obama said: "You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what to believe. Once they lose trust in their leaders, in mainstream media, in political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth, the game is won." That four-month-old TikTok video was shared more than 3,800 times just on that platform, and has more recently been shared on Twitter. One user who shared the video has more than 63,000 followers. That tweet was liked more than 13,000 times. Other similar TikTok videos also show Obama saying the same line. Obama’s quote is real, but the videos are edited to leave out context and create the false impression that he supports the intentional spread of disinformation, which is false information created or shared intentionally to mislead others. In the full speech, Obama — who was giving the keynote address at an event hosted by Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center about disinformation’s threat to democracy — called for governments and tech companies to better protect users. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 "People are dying because of misinformation," he warned about COVID-19 vaccine falsehoods at one point in the speech. Before and after the line seen in the TikTok video, Obama spoke about how people like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Steve Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, understand how to use disinformation "in order to weaken democratic institutions," referencing the 2016 U.S. election. You can watch Obama’s full speech in the video above and read a transcript here, but here’s the context that’s missing from the TikTok video. "Authoritarian regimes and strongmen around the world from China to Hungary, the Philippines, Brazil have learned to conscript social media platforms to turn their own populations against groups they don’t like, whether it’s ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community, journalists, political opponents. And of course, autocrats like Putin have used these platforms as a strategic weapon against democratic countries that they consider a threat. "People like Putin and Steve Bannon, for that matter, understand it’s not necessary for people to believe this information in order to weaken democratic institutions. You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what to believe. "Once they lose trust in their leaders, in mainstream media, in political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth, the game’s won. And as Putin discovered leading up to the 2016 election, our own social media platforms are well designed to support such a mission, such a project." Our ruling A TikTok video shares a truncated clip of Obama speaking about disinformation. The former president did say the words in the video, but the video was edited to omit the context of the speech he gave at Stanford University. Obama wasn’t extolling disinformation’s virtues, but rather warning about its dangers and calling for governments and tech companies to better protect democracy. We rate this claim Fals

Leaked messages “between former President Barack Obama and Judge Reinhart foreshadowed the unlawful raid on former Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed off on the warrant to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, making him an immediate subject of interest for Trump supporters. One Facebook post claimed Reinhart was in cahoots with another former president when it came to preparing for the search. "BREAKING: Messages between former President Barack Obama and Judge Reinhart foreshadowed the unlawful raid on former Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate," the post said before it was apparently deleted (we found a similar one here). "Instagram account @patriotave is posting leaked messages. Follow @patriotave before they are taken down!!!" (Screengrab from Instagram) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It was not the first time since the warrant was executed that Reinhart was a target of misinformation. The Instagram account the post refers to is private, but its bio advertised a survivalist shovel available for purchase and suggested following another account, @political source, to have any follow requests accepted faster. That account, also private, referred users to follow @FuriousPatriot, "to be accepted faster," and that account, also private and advertising the shovel, referred users to follow yet another private account "to be accepted faster." We followed the initial account the post referred to but there were no leaked messages to be found there. These nesting doll-like accounts don’t know something that hasn’t previously been reported. Though records show Reinhart donated $1,000 to Obama when he was running for president in 2008, and another $1,000 to the Obama Victory Fund, a fundraising committee, we found no evidence to support the claim that messages between the two men were leaked in connection with the search of Trump’s estate. There are no credible news reports, nor other other sources to corroborate this post. We rate this post False.

“The Congressional Budget Office says 90% of the revenue generated from the new IRS agents will come from people making less than $200,000 … and the revenue generated will be $300-plus billion. No one likes getting a letter or call from the IRS. Republicans say that’s exactly what will happen to more and more people when the Internal Revenue Service gets billions of dollars from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. The bill puts $80 billion into the IRS. The agency says it will use much of the money to get corporations and high net-worth people to pay the taxes they legally owe. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News that although the IRS might say it won’t be coming after middle-income people, it will have to. "The Congressional Budget Office says that 90% of the revenue generated from the new IRS agents will come from people making less than $200,000," Scott said Aug. 10. "The revenue generated will be $300-plus billion." We asked Scott’s staff where he got his numbers, and they said he meant to cite the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan analytic arm of Congress. But that committee never assessed the impact of the current effort to boost enforcement capacity at the IRS. And the effort is projected to produce $204 billion in revenue over the decade, not the $300 billion Scott said. Scott’s not the only Republican to warn that most of the money will come from people and businesses making less than $200,000. The data show that Scott and his colleagues have misapplied estimates from a year-old congressional letter that addressed a different topic. How IRS staffing will increase revenue The Inflation Reduction Act boosts IRS enforcement capacity by $46 billion. There’s another $23 billion for information technology and other back-office functions, and about $3 billion to improve taxpayer services. The overall goal is to reduce what’s known as the tax gap. That’s the difference between what people and companies pay in taxes and what they actually owe under the law. The problem comes down to people failing to report a portion of their income. Over the years, funding cuts slashed the number of staff available to take on the high-dollar, more complicated tax evasions schemes. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of enforcement personnel fell by nearly a third. When the CBO looked at the full menu of changes at the IRS — enforcement plus the rest — it predicted that the agency would collect an additional $204 billion over the course of the decade. That ranged from a low of $3 billion in the first year, to a high of $37.5 billion in 2030. The CBO said the additional revenues would come from a combination of enforcement and better compliance. The CBO report said nothing about what income groups the new collections would come from. Scott was mistaken to cite the CBO as a source for this information. Others who issued the same warning about people making under $200,000, such as Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, cited the Joint Committee on Taxation. That is also misleading. The Joint Committee looked at a different issue In 2021, the Biden administration was considering a rule that would require banks to report the flow of money in and out of accounts. A member of Congress asked the Joint Committee on Taxation to assess the impact. The Joint Committee said in a letter that its tax model wasn’t able to answer the question of what the plan’s impact would be. But the committee did offer some estimates of sources of income that are typically underreported and would likely be touched by the proposal. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 One example was what’s called Schedule C income. That’s money from a business you run yourself or extra income you make on the side. The report grouped tax filers by income. Then, for each income group, it estimated the filers’ share of total tax assessments under IRS audits that revealed unreported Schedule C income. About 90% of those tax assessments were from people who declared that they made $200,000 or less. That’s the source of Scott’s claim, but in addition to its other limitations, that statistic concerns a relatively small slice of all taxpayers. In 2019, the IRS processed 158 million individual returns. The number of those returns that included a Schedule C was 27 million, about 17% of the total. With the $80 billion, the IRS would tackle a wider range of tax noncompliance, including large multinational corporations and people misusing estate and gift tax returns to reduce their taxable income. Tax experts say the Republican use of the letter’s statistics is fundamentally misleading. "Focusing on the limitations of the (Joint Committee on Taxation) analysis is like listing all the missing leaves and branches on a tree when the problem is that we're in entirely the wrong forest," said Chye-Ching Huang, the executive director of the Tax Law Center at New York University Law School. "The analysis is not about the proposal that was enacted." Among other key disconnects, Huang noted, the analysis grouped people by their income as they reported it, "rather than true income." "If a filer told the IRS that they only had $200,000 in wage income, but failed to report $1 million in income from a cash business, they would be classified in this table as having $200,000 of income, even though they really made $1.2 million," Huang said. To be sure, the Joint Committee’s letter noted this and several other limitations, including that it was based on 10-year-old data and that the random audits behind the data were known to skew the results toward lower-income filers. Marc Goldwein is the senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that favors deficit reduction. He said the letter is too far removed from the current focus on corporations and upper-income filers to be helpful. "Most of the underreporting comes from people making six-figure incomes or more," Goldwein said. "Very little comes from wage income. It’s from income that’s not subject to strong reporting requirements." The IRS and Treasury Department say that they will be hiring higher-skilled investigators to target corporations and high-net-worth individuals. Earners making less than $400,000, they said, won’t see any change in enforcement. The amount of unreported money at the upper end of the income scale makes it possible that the IRS will collect $204 billion over 10 years, Goldwein said. The projected additional revenues of $37.5 billion in 2030, for example, represent about 6% of a tax gap estimated at about $585 billion. "Generally speaking, we can ramp up audits in a way that is concentrated on upper-middle and upper-income taxpayers and reach the desired revenue goal," Goldwein said. Our ruling Scott said the CBO "says 90% of the revenue generated from the new IRS agents will come from people making less than $200,000," and that the government will collect more than $300 billion. The actual revenue estimate is $204 billion. The 90% statistic comes from the Joint Committee on Taxation — not the Congressional Budget Office — and its letter to a member of Congress said nothing about tax audits. Tax experts said it is misleading to use the letter’s data the way Scott did. It addressed a totally different policy option, and it distorted who might be affected by categorizing taxpayers based on the income they reported, not their real incomes. Scott made it sound as though all taxpayers making less than $200,000 are at risk, but the type of income in the 90% figure represents about 17% of all individual returns filed. We rate this claim False.

There’s polio in New York City’s tap water In July, New York City Mayor Eric Adams posted a video of himself on Twitter urging New Yorkers to drink the city’s tap water — a tip for "keeping cool this summer." But a recent Instagram post mocks that suggestion. "Do you all remember that time when Mayor Adam’s told everyone in New York City to drink the tap water?" says a screenshot of a tweet, which uses an incorrect possessive, that’s being shared on the site.. "Anyways, they found polio in the New York City water." One account sharing the screenshot wrote that "Under Biden, they are now finding polio in tap water." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) On July 21, New York state and New York City health officials confirmed the first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade in a person from Rockland County, New York, who was not vaccinated against the disease. Rockland County is about 36 miles north of New York City. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 On Aug. 12, the New York State Health Department and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced that poliovirus had been detected in wastewater samples from sewage in the region, indicating that the virus was circulating locally. But it doesn’t mean the virus is in the city’s tap water. "It does not contaminate our drinking water or other sources of water that the public would interact with," a state health department spokesperson told Medical News Today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, polio is highly infectious and can damage the spine and muscles. The CDC said about 25% of people will experience flu-like symptoms, including fever, tiredness and nausea and about 72% of people will have no visible symptoms. RELATED VIDEO The CDC also said polio, which is incurable, is spread mainly by person-to-person contact. But it can also be spread by eating raw or undercooked food or by drinking water or other drinks that are contaminated with the feces of an infected person. In New York, "wastewater is not a concern in terms of having the ability to infect the general public," the state health department spokesperson told Medical News Today, because "the general public does not interact with wastewater." We rate this post False.

“Democrats are voting to add an army of 87,000 IRS agents who will target middle class taxpayers and conduct at least 1 million more audits each year. Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., says Democrats all but declared war on the middle class by supporting a tax and spending bill signed by President Joe Biden that will expand the Internal Revenue Service. The law, called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, allocates about $80 billion for the IRS during the next 10 years with an expectation it will boost tax collections by $204 billion. Among other purposes, the agency says it will use the money to target high-income earners and corporations. Good, along with many other Republicans, said he doesn’t believe it. "Democrats are voting to add an army of 87,000 IRS agents who will target middle class taxpayers and conduct at least 1 million more audits each year," Good tweeted on Aug. 10. Good represents the 5th Congressional District, spanning from Danville north past Charlottesville to Warrenton. Good’s office didn’t get back to us to explain where he got his information, but his statement is misleading. No army of 87,000 agents This 87,000 figure comes from a May 2021 Treasury Department assessment of how it would use $80 billion to improve IRS operations. The report said the IRS would add 86,852 new full-time positions. (The plan is not written in stone. The Treasury said that in the coming months, it will decide how to allocate the new money.) But even in the 2021 plan, not all of the hires would be auditors or work in enforcement. The report said the money would go toward many things, including "hiring new specialized enforcement staff, modernizing antiquated information technology, and investing in meaningful taxpayer service." Although the agency’s staff would increase, it’s key to note that more than half of the IRS workforce is close to retirement. The plan was created with that exodus in mind. Today, the IRS has about 80,000 employees. "The IRS will lose about 50,000 people over the next five or six years," Natasha Sarin, Treasury’s counselor for tax policy and implementation, told PolitiFact National. "A lot of this hiring is about replacing those people." During the past decade, the IRS has seen its funding cut by 20%. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of enforcement personnel fell by about one-third. So, the 87,000 people won’t exclusively work on the enforcement side, and they won’t all boost the overall size of the IRS workforce. Not targeting the middle class Good’s claim that the IRS will crack down on the middle class has been a Republican talking point based on faulty calculations by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas. In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office said that $80 billion more for the IRS would "return audit rates to the levels of about 10 years ago." Brady took the audit rates of 2010 and applied them to the number of tax returns in 2018 — broken down by income groups. Using his approach, he claimed there would be about 710,000 more audits for filers reporting less than $75,000 in income. Featured Fact-check Levar Stoney stated on October 26, 2022 in a news conference. “I don’t get involved in the hiring and firing of police chiefs.” By Warren Fiske • November 2, 2022 But the approach ignores several key details from the CBO report and what the bill — and the Treasury — have made clear: This effort is intended to increase audits of corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The full sentence in the CBO report that Brady was drawing from said the audit "rate would rise for all taxpayers, but higher-income taxpayers would face the largest increase." Brady took a broad statement and applied it across the board to all income groups. Brady also failed to note a key difference between the CBO assessment from a year ago and the bill that passed Congress last week. The CBO assumed in its report that $60 billion of the $80 billion would go toward enforcement. But in the law Biden signed Tuesday, substantially less than that — $46 billion — goes to enforcement, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis. With nearly one-third less money, the number of resulting audits likely would also be less than originally predicted. Perhaps most important, however, Brady’s projection and Good’s statement run directly counter to the stated policy of the IRS. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen laid out the agency’s policy in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. "I direct that any additional resources — including any new personnel or auditors that are hired — shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels," Yellen wrote Aug. 10. That wasn’t new information. Rettig — who was appointed by former President Donald Trump — said the same thing in an Aug. 4 letter to Congress. Audit rates for filers reporting less than $75,000 have held steady during the past several years at about 0.4%. In contrast, in 2011, the audit rate was more than double — at 1%. Yellen said enforcement will focus on corporations and people with high net worth; auditing them requires staff with special skills. At its current funding, she said, the agency is able to audit only about 7,500 out of 4 million such returns each year. The Treasury's Sarin said the new audits will be focused on high earners because that’s where the money is. The top 1% of earners, she said, account for about 30% of the $600 billion each year that is owed but goes uncollected. We should finally note that we could find no basis to prove or disprove Good’s claim that the IRS will conduct an additional 1 million audits a year. The CBO has not estimated the number of audits that will result from the law. The IRS spent $5 billion on tax enforcement during the 2021 fiscal year and conducted 740,000 audits. The bill is expected to add about $4.5 billion annually to the enforcement budget. Our ruling Good said, "Democrats are voting to add an army of 87,000 IRS agents who will target middle class taxpayers and conduct at least 1 million more audits each year." The Inflation Reduction Act will increase staffing and enforcement at the IRS. But the 87,000 figure is flawed because not all of those employees would work in IRS enforcement, and not all of them would be new employees added to the overall workforce. Many of the hires will replace an estimated 50,000 IRS workers who are expected to retire this decade. There is no basis for saying the IRS will target the middle class. To the contrary, the administration has ordered no increase of auditing earners making less than $400,000. The last part of his statement — that the IRS will conduct at least 1 million more audits a year — is undetermined. It’s clear the agency will be auditing more tax returns from high earners, but there’s no official estimate on how many more. All told, we rate Good’s statement Mostly False.

Video shows Congress voting for a highly classified “Homeland Terrorism Preparedness Bill. "Do your own research," suggests a recent Facebook post that shares what looks like a news clip of a man identified as "Rep. John Haller," a Republican from Pennsylvania, introducing a bill to be voted on in Congress. "Congress shall now vote for approval of H.R. 8791, the Homeland Terrorism Preparedness Bill. Said bill requests emergency response funding up to and including — I’m sorry this section is classified," Haller says in the video. He then reads several more classified sections, saying the money is to prepare for a "national terrorism attack and/or attack from ‘classified’" and refers to "flesh-eating," though what is flesh-eating is, of course, "classified." An animated zombie emoji in the post points to possible attackers. "CLASSIFIED," reads text flanking the video. "Wait .. what are they voting for? Research FEMA camps." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 9, 2022 in a Facebook post “Donald Trump is back on Twitter,” thanks to Elon Musk. By Sara Swann • October 10, 2022 Let’s do some research. First, John Haller isn’t a real congressman from Pennsylvania. Searching for that name turns up references to this video, but nothing connecting him to the U.S. Congress. There was a Republican named Harold Smith Haller in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, but he’s been dead since 1964 and didn’t serve in Congress. Libertarian Henry Haller ran for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor in 2014, but there’s no record of him being in Congress, either. Second, H.R. 8791, also known as the Department of Homeland Security Reform Act of 2020, was a bill introduced by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in November of that year to change the structure of the federal agency, such as modifying the responsibilities of the officer for civil rights and civil liberties. The measure, which had 19 co-sponsors, didn’t pertain to flesh-eating zombies. Third, although the clip in the post resembles a C-SPAN broadcast, there’s an onion in place of the C in the logo. That’s because this video originated on the satirical website The Onion in 2007. "Proposed (Classified) Bill Will Defend Against Flesh-Eating (Classified)," the headline on the Onion story says. We rate claims that this is real footage of Congress Pants on Fire!

Rep. Adam Kinzinger “admits Trump won” the 2020 presidential election U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump. On Jan. 13, 2021, he was one of 10 House Republicans voting to impeach Trump after the attack on the U.S. Capitol a week earlier. He’s also one of two Republicans on the House select committee that has investigated Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6. On June 12, Kinzinger told CBS’ "Face the Nation" he thought Trump knew he lost the 2020 presidential election. But a recent Facebook post suggests Kinzinger himself thought the opposite. "Kinzinger admits Trump won," the description of a recent video shared on the platform says. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Viewers who watched until the end of the nearly 10-minute video would realize that Kinzinger wasn’t talking about the election. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 During a recent interview with WGN-TV, a reporter asked Kinzinger, who is not running for re-election, whether Trump had won the "Trump versus Kinzinger war." "Yes, yeah, he won," Kinzinger said. "In the short term at least. There’s no use in pretending somehow I scored some major victory and saved the party." Also in the WGN interview, Kinzinger said voting for Trump in 2020 was a "cowardice move" he regrets. News stories made clear that Kinzinger was talking about personal feud with Trump. RELATED VIDEO "Kinzinger on fight with Trump: ‘Yeah, he won. In the short term at least,’" The Hill’s headline said. Axios ran something similar: "Kinzinger on Trump battle: ‘He won, in the short term at least.’" But the description of this Facebook video takes Kinzinger’s comments out of important context, and could mislead viewers to believe Kinzinger was admitting Trump won the election. We rate that claim False.

"We are number one in the country as far as our spending (COVID-19 relief) money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive. With Wisconsin’s Republican gubernatorial primary in the books, businessman Tim Michels can turn his attention to the fall battle against Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. Evers, meanwhile, has been tuning up a message framed around an area typically associated with Republicans: Business. "We are number one in the country as far as our spending money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive," Evers told Charles Benson of WTMJ-TV, Channel 4, in a July 24, 2022, interview. Evers made a similar claim in his February 2022 State of the State Address: "I’m proud to report that, as a share of the federal aid our state has received, Wisconsin ranked second in the country for aid we’ve directed to economic development, and we ranked first in the country in aid we’ve allocated to businesses." Evers is talking, of course, about COVID relief funding that came to the state – money that, notably, was up to Evers alone (not the GOP-controlled Legislature) to distribute. Does Wisconsin really rank first in money allocated to businesses, when measured as a percentage of federal funds received? Let’s take a look. A ranking with a few asterisks When asked to back up Evers’ claim, spokesperson Britt Cudaback cited figures from the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank that analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies. Those figures focused on the American Rescue Plan Act (known as ARPA), a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to help the U.S. recover from the economic fallout and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s only one COVID-related stimulus plan, a point we’ll come back to later. According to the center’s data spelling out ARPA allocations through March 2022, of the $2.5 billion given to Wisconsin, some 80.3% has been allocated. Here are the top five states, by percentage of money used as assistance to businesses – and, in parentheses, the total allocated to businesses. Wisconsin: 31.56% ($641 million) Maine: 18.69% ($186 million) Rhode Island: 17.23% ($20.5 million) North Carolina: 11.66% ($630 million) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 Illinois: 11.46% ($323 million) That’s consistent with how Evers said he would spend the money. He noted in a March 29, 2021, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article that at least $600 million would go to Wisconsin businesses. Looking at the the group’s map of the U.S., PolitiFact Wisconsin counted 24 states — including Oregon, Montana, New Mexico and Florida — with no assistance listed for businesses in that period. To be sure, if you include territories, Wisconsin is not at the very top. Wesley Tharpe, the organization’s deputy director of state policy research, considers the characterization by Evers "somewhat imprecise" because "technically Guam has allocated the highest share to business assistance of funds received so far (56.9%)." That said, people generally understand a comparison such as that by Evers to be among the 50 states. Tharpe also noted that the percentages are based only on money allocated as of March 2022, "so there’s no guarantee that that ranking will hold once the remaining dollars go out." So, those are a couple modest caveats about the data. Here’s another one: The group’s analysis covers only ARPA money. Before ARPA, there was the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (known as CARES), a bipartisan $2 trillion package signed in March 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. The state got some $2 billion through that package. But the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has not done a comparable state-by state analysis of the CARES Act — and Evers’ own staff said it is unaware of any analysis that takes a comprehensive look at the combined COVID-related grant money. The National Conference of State Legislatures created a database that looks more broadly at COVID relief money and what the various states did with it. But as it is structured, state-to-state comparisons are difficult — and Cudaback, Evers’ spokesperson, acknowledged gaps in that information and that the two groups may collect and categorize the information differently. She also argued that the programs Evers was talking about at the time of the claim were related to spending specifically for ARPA funds, so the factors "suggest the governor was referring specifically to ARPA investments." Our ruling Evers said "We are number one in the country as far as our spending (COVID relief) money on businesses as it relates to the percentage of federal funds that we receive." Based on the available information, the claim appears to be on target, with a few caveats. Among them: The data focuses on money distributed through ARPA and the figures are only for money distributed through March, so the final picture could change. Our definition for Half True is a statement that is "partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context." 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"Send your postcards to 5 key states to decertify fraud” in the 2020 election A Facebook post promotes a website that charges people money to send postcards to state legislators so they can "decertify" ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election. But this postcard strategy is about as effective as sending your Christmas wish list to the North Pole. There is no process to decertify ballots, and there wasn’t widespread fraud in the election. That hasn’t stopped some conservative activists from pushing this baseless narrative. One of those activists is Janet Folger Porter, who in May lost a Republican congressional primary in Ohio. A Facebook post by Porter invites the public to "send your postcards to 5 key states to decertify fraud TODAY at www.decertifyfraud.com." Those five states —– Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan —– were won by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The website charges people $25 to send a postcard to Wisconsin, $50 to send to Wisconsin and Arizona and $100 to send to all five. The site encourages people to send in the postcards by Sept. 4. After that date, election officials are allowed under federal law to destroy 2020 ballots. But a postcard blitz won’t change these facts: Biden beat Donald Trump. States certified the votes. Congress accepted the results. Biden was sworn in as the president. Voter fraud was minimal — not enough to change the outcome of the election. Judges rejected dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud or seeking to change the outcome. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) A 1960 law requires that ballots be kept for at least 22 months The website calls on people to send in postcards by Sept. 4 because a federal law, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, says that election offices must retain ballots cast in federal races, including for president, for 22 months. A report from a House committee in 1959 explains that the reason for the provision, recommended by the Justice Department, was to protect the right of citizens to vote without discrimination based on race. The department needs access to voting records to investigate discrimination complaints. The committee pointed to a 1959 case in which state and local government officials in Alabama refused to allow the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to inspect voting and registration records to investigate complaints that citizens were deprived of the right to vote based on race. In some states targeted by the postcard campaign, local election officials told PolitiFact they view the law as a practical matter because they have only so much storage space. Once the 22 months have passed, election offices routinely shred ballots. In Milwaukee County, about 465,000 ballots were cast in the November 2020 election, said Michelle Hawley, director of Milwaukee County Election Commission. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 25, 2022 in an Instagram post The documentary “2,000 Mules proves” Democrats “cheated on the 2020 elections.” By Jon Greenberg • October 28, 2022 "Imagine trying to store all those pieces of paper for an extended period of time — we would run out of room," Hawley said. The push to ‘decertify’ 2020 results is not rooted in law A few state legislators have called for decertifying the 2020 election, including in Arizona and Wisconsin, but their efforts have not drawn widespread support among their peers. Those who float the idea of decertifying ballots are suggesting something that doesn’t exist under the law, said Chris Krebs, the former federal cybersecurity official whom Trump fired. "Here’s the thing: you’re the mark," Krebs tweeted in 2021. "They want your money, they want your rage, they want you turning out, protesting, & threatening officials. You’re a pawn. Nothing more." The decertify fraud website is run by Porter and a group called The America Project, launched by Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of the online furniture retailer Overstock.com. Byrne donated millions of dollars to the Cyber Ninjas firm that conducted the Republican-led review of votes in Arizona’s Maricopa County. Byrne has also donated money to a group run by Jim Marchant of Nevada, who is part of a national slate of Republicans running to operate elections while parroting Trump’s falsehoods about voter fraud. We did not get a response from the website when we asked for evidence that the postcards could lead to decertifying ballots. As of Aug. 15, the website showed that 527 postcards had been sent to lawmakers. If people truly want to send a letter to a lawmaker suggesting an idea that doesn’t exist in law, they could do that for free in an email. This postcard invitation appears to be a strategy to help people who promote election falsehoods raise more money. Our ruling A Facebook post invites people to "send your postcards to 5 key states to decertify fraud" in the 2020 election. People can send the postcards, but it won’t have the impact they want because there is no such thing as decertifying the election. States have certified the 2020 election results. There is no evidence that widespread fraud occurred. We rate this statement Pants on Fire. PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check. RELATED: GOP lawmaker’s proposal to decertify Arizona election won’t change anything about 2020 RELATED: A coalition of ‘stop the steal’ Republicans aims to take control of US elections. QAnon is helping RELATED: All of our fact-checks about electio

Reuters reported that “White House employee Andrew Bates did use Nazi symbolism in a recent tweet. Brandon just won’t go away. The name gained political cachet in October 2021, when an NBC Sports reporter mistook a crowd’s profane chants about President Joe Biden for chants of support for NASCAR driver Brandon Brown. "Let’s go, Brandon!" became an anti-Biden mantra used by social media users and politicians alike. Brandon re-entered controversy in an Aug. 8 Facebook post, which featured a screenshot of what appeared to be a Reuters headline claiming that a Biden administration official had included a Nazi symbol in a tweet. The post read: "Fact check - White House employee Andrew Bates did use Nazi Symbolism in a recent tweet". In other versions of the image, also shared on Facebook and Twitter, the headline continued: "But he did so in a way that exhibits how extreme the opponents of Biden have become." The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from Facebook.) The Biden administration has recently embraced a "Let’s go, Brandon!" parody meme called "Dark Brandon," which features edited images of Biden grinning with red laser eyes. These memes are a response to Dark MAGA, a far-right aesthetic promoting an authoritarian version of former President Donald Trump in dystopian images. The flagged post refers to a Dark Brandon meme. Biden’s deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, has mentioned and shared Dark Brandon memes in recent days. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Dark Brandon is crushing it pic.twitter.com/w0L8xCzIW8— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) August 7, 2022 One of the memes Bates shared on Aug. 7 was reminiscent of a movie poster for the 2012 Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises": pic.twitter.com/eb1AxcMFyK— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) August 8, 2022 After the meme was shared, some Twitter users questioned whether the emblem in the background was a Nazi symbol. Tobin Stone, the artist who first shared the Biden meme, confirmed to The Daily Dot that the meme was based on the Batman movie poster, which features a bat in the background. When making the Biden meme, Stone substituted an eagle for the bat. "The eagle is not, and was never intended to be the Reichsadler — it was just intended to be a representation of America’s national bird, the bald eagle, and any reasonable person would interpret it as such," he told The Daily Dot. A Reichsadler is an imperial eagle motif used by Nazi Germany. In addition, the image in the Facebook post is not a screenshot of an actual Reuters Fact Check article. A search for the purported headline on the Reuters website turned up no matching results. Searches for the phrase "White House employee Andrew Bates did use Nazi symbolism" also returned no results. Reuters confirmed in a statement that it did not publish a fact check about a tweet by White House employee Andrew Bates and the alleged use of Nazi symbolism. The news agency said the headline about the tweet that was attributed to Reuters Fact Check in social media posts was fabricated. Our ruling A fake screenshot claimed that Reuters Fact Check reported that "White House employee Andrew Bates did use Nazi symbolism in a recent tweet." Reuters Fact Check did not report this. White House staffers have shared versions of the pro-Biden "Dark Brandon" meme, including one that some Twitter users claimed featured a Nazi symbol. The meme’s creator said the design was based on a movie poster and featured an eagle, America’s national bird, not a Nazi symbol. We rate this claim Fals

The COVID-19 vaccine caused Ashton Kutcher to lose “vision, hearing and ability to walk. In December 2021, People magazine published a list of celebrities and politicians who got vaccinated against COVID-19. Among them were actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. The story recalls how Kunis told talk show hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest in April of that year that she and her husband, Kutcher, were vaccinated after she "waited in lines ‘all around LA’ in an attempt to get leftover vaccines." This anecdote is now being offered as evidence on social media that the vaccine injured Kutcher. But Kutcher got sick before Americans could get COVID-19 vaccines domestically. The words "how it started…" appear over a screenshot of the story, while the words "how it’s going" appear over a screenshot of a different headline: "Ashton Kutcher lost vision, hearing and ability to walk after rare autoimmune diagnosis." An Instagram post sharing these images was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 We don’t know when exactly Kunis and Kutcher received their COVID-19 vaccines, but the first doses weren’t available in the United States before December 2020. Kutcher’s illness preceded that. In a trailer for an upcoming episode of the show "Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge," which Access Hollywood published online Aug. 8, Kutcher says: "Like two years ago, I had this weird rare form of vasculitis that like knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out like all my equilibrium. It took me like a year to build it all back up." RELATED VIDEO Vasculitis involves the inflammation of the blood vessels that can cause organ and tissue damage, according to the Mayo Clinic. The exact cause isn’t fully understood and can depend on someone’s genetic makeup and immune system. Possible triggers include infections, such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C, blood cancers and reactions to certain drugs. We found no evidence to support the claim that Kutcher’s vasculitis, and accompanying complications, were caused by a COVID-19 vaccine. We rate this post False.

“Liz Cheney cries like kids after loses in ‘primary’ against Trump’s pick,” two days before the primary election U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., faces a contentious primary election Aug. 16 as one of the few Republicans in public office who has criticized former President Donald Trump for his election fraud claims. One Facebook post claims Cheney, vice chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, already lost the election — days before voting has ended. "Liz Cheney CRIES LIKE KIDS after loses in ‘primary’ against Trump’s pick," the Aug. 14 post says. The Facebook post features an unrelated 24-minute snippet from the Aug. 14 broadcast of Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Weekend" morning show, which makes no mention of Cheney. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Cheney is expected to lose her re-election bid in the primary, with one poll finding that she trails nearly 30 points behind fellow Republican Harriet Hageman, who was endorsed by Trump. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post “Nancy Pelosi (purchased) 10,000 shares of Amgen, manufacturer of Nplate, a drug used to treat radiation sickness.” By Sara Swann • October 25, 2022 The lead-up to the election has seen Cheney stripped of her House leadership position and shunned by colleagues in the GOP after challenging Trump's claim that his re-election was stolen. The Facebook post’s assertion of Cheney’s loss was made two days before the primary election and before any vote had been counted. And we find no reports about Cheney "crying" other than tearing up during a standing ovation she received during a July 31 groundbreaking for Mineta-Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain Interpretive Center in Powell, Wyoming. Monique Meese, communications and policy director for the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office, said results in the election aren’t expected until after the polls close at 7 p.m. Aug. 16. Our ruling A Facebook post claims Cheney lost her re-election bid as the House representative for Wyoming. Although Cheney is expected to lose her seat, the post was made two days before the primary election. We rate this claim Pants on Fir

“They put” monkeypox in the water in Atlanta A video being shared on social media adds what may seem like a worrisome layer to the monkeypox health emergency in the United States — that the virus is being put in the water. "Monkey pox in the water," someone can be heard saying while recording a news broadcast at a water reclamation facility in Fulton County, where Atlanta is the county seat. "ATL, oh man, they put something else in the water." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The July 26 news broadcast in the post reported on scientists testing wastewater for COVID-19 and the monkeypox virus to better gauge infection rates in the area. Some people have interpreted the video to mean that there’s monkeypox in the Atlanta area’s drinking water, and as multiple fact-checkers have noted, that’s wrong. Monkeypox was detected in the wastewater there, but that doesn’t mean someone put it there, or intentionally tampered with the water supply in Atlanta, as the post suggests. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 RELATED VIDEO Rather, because the monkeypox virus can cause pus-filled blisters, running water over these sores in a shower or sink "can catapult monkeypox DNA into wastewater," according to the MIT Technology Review, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s bimonthly magazine. "Recent data suggest that the DNA of monkeypox can also be detected in a variety of bodily fluids from those infected," the publication says. "That includes respiratory and nasal secretions, spit, urine, feces and semen — meaning a flushed tissue from someone with monkeypox can register the virus in wastewater." Even so, there’s no evidence people can contract monkeypox from wastewater. It’s been spreading among humans via close contact with infected persons and exposure to their rash, bodily fluids, or respiratory droplets. We rate claims that monkeypox is being put in the water False.

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “While my father loves almost all his supporters, please do not come to Mar-a-Lago to support President Trump. We have many important people coming through the club and need to keep it clean. Supporters of former President Donald Trump have gathered at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in the days since FBI agents executed a search warrant there Aug. 8. But what looks like a screenshot of Trump’s son discouraging his dad’s fans from visiting the property was created as a joke. "While my father loves almost all his supporters, please do not come to Mar-a-Lago to support President Trump," reads what looks like a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. on Aug. 13. "We have many important people coming through the club and need to keep it clean." Posts sharing this image were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Comments on one post from comedian Kathy Griffin sounded shocked by what looked like a slip from Trump Jr. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 "So he admits that his supporters are NOT important or clean people!!" one comment said. RELATED VIDEO But these accounts perhaps missed the supposed time Trump Jr. tweeted this — "6:99 AM" — and some text at the bottom of the image: "Parody by Back Rub." The Twitter account @FaithRubPol tweeted the image on Aug. 14. The following day the account tweeted extra clarification for those who had missed the parody label: "This is a parody, which we posted at 6:99 AM as it says on the bottom :)." We rate claims that this is an authentic tweet False.

Video shows Ron DeSantis arguing with Sean Hannit Footage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arguing with Sean Hannity of Fox News about whether the search of Mar-a-Lago should be called a "raid" went viral on Twitter. But the tense exchange ripped DeSantis' real comments about defining a raid out of context. "Ron DeSantis went on Hannity and things got SPICY," Tim Burke, a former journalist at The Daily Beast, Deadspin and Gawker, posted on his popular Twitter account. Burke, who now operates a media and political consulting firm, is known for finding interesting and sometimes obscure video clips and sharing them with his 110,00 Twitter followers. The video was satirical, as Burke made clear. Still, the tweet attracted the ire of high-profile conservatives, who demanded Twitter remove it. Christina Pushaw, rapid response director for DeSantis' campaign, called the video "political misinformation." Hannity asked Twitter to step in, warning viewers that the incident "never happened." Twitter later marked the video as "manipulated media," highlighting fact-checks by Reuters and the Associated Press. The clip is a composite of two distinct exchanges spliced together to look as if DeSantis and Hannity are talking to one another. DeSantis appears in a window as if he is being interviewed by Hannity. Head cocked and forehead wrinkled, DeSantis tells Hannity: "It is not a raid. They were serving valid process in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the United States." Meanwhile, Hannity's footage is rewound, with his hand moving back and forth in a motion that one user likened to a DJ. As the video goes on, DeSantis is clearly frozen. The footage of Hannity and Lara Trump came from an Aug. 9 segment about the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate, Mar-a-Lago. DeSantis' remarks are unrelated to Mar-a-Lago. In a 2020 press conference, DeSantis berated a reporter for characterizing a law enforcement search of the home of Rebekah Jones, a former data scientist for the Florida Department of Health, as a "raid." "They did a search warrant," DeSantis said of the search of Jones' home. "Why did they do a search warrant on the house? Because her IP address was linked to the felony. What were they supposed to do? Just ignore it? Of course not." Featured Fact-check Rebekah Jones stated on October 26, 2022 in a post on Instagram Document shows Rebekah Jones “demonstrated” a violation of Florida’s Whistleblower Act. By Sara Swann • November 1, 2022 An IP address (IP stands for internet protocol) is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local network. Jones garnered national attention when she claimed the Florida Department of Health altered COVID-19 case data. She was ultimately fired for "insubordination," and an investigation later found no evidence to substantiate her claim. Jones also faced criminal charges for illegally using the state's computer system — leading to the search warrant DeSantis referenced — and is now vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. DeSantis' clip resurfaced on Twitter after he called the Mar-a-Lago search a "raid" and decried President Joe Biden's "weaponization of federal agencies" against political opponents. "The federal Regime is targeting those it dislikes for disfavored treatment. They are demanding we get in line or face the consequences," DeSantis said in a fundraising email. "This mirrors a Banana Republic." Burke later said his clip was intended to highlight the different approaches DeSantis took when describing a search warrant executed in the Jones case and that executed in the Trump case. "I have a rule for any kind of silly project like that: If I spend more than 15 minutes on it, I'm working too hard," Burke told PolitiFact. "I still don't quite understand how anybody could look at it and think it was real." Burke noted that the "same five frames" of Hannity appear for about 90 seconds and that it's "daytime where Ron DeSantis is and nighttime where Sean Hannity is." Our ruling A video appeared to show DeSantis arguing with Hannity about whether the search of Mar-a-Lago should be called a "raid." The footage pieced together separate interviews to make a satirical point about how DeSantis used the term "raid" differently for Trump than he did a coronavirus critic in 2020. It wasn't a real interview. We rate claims that say it was Fals

"Bill Gates and AOC say that a cow emits more pollution than a car. Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have talked in the past about the pressing need for governments and corporations to take climate change seriously, including the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture industry. One Facebook post took this a step further by claiming the two said "a cow emits more pollution than a car." The post features an image of Gates and Ocasio-Cortez with a cartoon illustration of a cow. Underneath the image is text that makes a reference to using an idling car in an enclosed space for carbon monoxide poisoning. "How bout I spend the night in a garage with a cow, and they spend the night in a garage with a running car," text underneath the image reads. "Then we can meet up the next morning to discuss." Variations of the claim have popped up elsewhere on social media. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Greenhouse gas emissions from cows and cars The emissions coming from a cow and those from a car are not one in the same. A cow produces methane gas when partially digested food like grass is fermented within the rumen, one of a cow’s four stomach compartments. That gas is built up during fermentation and expelled by the cow through belching and, occasionally, flatulence. Cars with internal combustion engines primarily produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct when fuel is burned to provide energy. A single cow will expel an average of 220 pounds of methane per year, according to the University of California, Davis. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that a typical car will emit an average of 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Methane gas is nearly 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to contributing to climate change, UC Davis reports. Despite methane's potency, it only lasts for about 12 years in the atmosphere before a majority of it is removed through oxidation. Experts at UC Davis theorize that it’s possible the amount of methane that cows emit into the atmosphere is the same as the amount that breaks down. As for carbon dioxide, the university said it can last anywhere from several hundred to a thousand years in the Earth's atmosphere before breaking down. Meaning the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will continue to build up more and more in the atmosphere and will take centuries before disappearing. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 30, 2022 in a photo “There are no greenhouse gas emissions in this photo” of cows grazing. By Kristin Hugo • November 7, 2022 There are an estimated 253 million passenger cars and trucks within the U.S., with about 1.8 million of them being electric powered. The U.S. has around 91.9 million head of cattle. What Gates and Ocasio-Cortez have said about cows and climate change A spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told PolitiFact Gates has never said anything about cows producing more pollution than cars. Although a representative for Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not return a request for comment, we could not find any public remarks or written statements similar to the claim in the Facebook post made by the congresswoman. However, both have talked in the past about the link between the agriculture industry and climate change. Gates published a research paper in October 2021 detailing the need to make green technologies more affordable and accessible than their carbon-emitting counterparts. He mentioned in the report that livestock contributed 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions while passenger cars emitted 7%. Gates has also previously talked about the possibility of developed nations transitioning entirely to eating synthetic beef to help reduce the need for livestock, thereby lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Ocasio-Cortez briefly came under fire in 2019 when an FAQ shared by her office regarding the Green New Deal, a proposed resolution she co-sponsored to help address climate change, included a line about "farting cows." "We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast," the FAQ said. The mention of "farting cows" did not appear in the resolution itself. The resolution also mentioned the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, but makes no comparison to the emission of cars with those of cows. Similar to Gates, Ocasio-Cortez has also advocated for the need to eat less meat and dairy products as a way to help address climate change. She’s made statements about it on social media and in an interview on the canceled Showtime series "Desus & Mero." "It’s not to say you get rid of agriculture. It’s not to say we’re going to force everybody to go vegan or anything crazy like that," she said on the show. "But it’s to say, listen, we’ve got to address factory farming. Maybe we shouldn’t be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner." Our ruling A Facebook post claims Gates Ocasio-Cortez said cows emitted more pollution than cars. Although both have talked about climate change in the past and the roles that fossil fuels and livestock play in greenhouse gas emissions, neither have said anything resembling the claim in the Facebook post. The methane emitted by cows is more potent in contributing to climate change, but it breaks down in the atmosphere considerably more quickly than the carbon dioxide from cars. We rate the Facebook post Fals

"Brian Kemp wants to investigate and punish women for having miscarriages. In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democratic candidates have focused their ads on abortion. In the race for Georgia governor, Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams adopted the tactic. With an ad on Facebook and Instagram, she made this claim about the state’s Republican incumbent: "Brian Kemp wants to investigate and punish women for having miscarriages." Abrams made similar claims in two TV ads. The six-week abortion law Kemp signed, which took effect July 20 but is being challenged in court, says miscarriage is legal. Georgia’s law does not explicitly say women can’t be prosecuted. So, some legal experts say the law gives police discretion on investigating whether a woman had a miscarriage or an illegal abortion. "There are other states where it really clearly says you cannot punish the person who had the abortion, period, and Georgia’s law is not clear in that way," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at University of California, Davis and an abortion law expert. Therefore, women in Georgia could be investigated over a miscarriage, she said. Ad alludes to "heartbeat" law Kemp won his first term as governor in 2018 by defeating Abrams, a former Georgia state lawmaker. Campaign watchers rate their Nov. 8 matchup as leaning Republican. Abrams’ attack is made in the headline that appears at the top of the ad, which was placed by One Georgia, her leadership committee. Below the headline is a video with sound bites, including: "Governor Brian Kemp signed the most extreme abortion law in the nation" and "criminal investigations into miscarriages." The video alludes to Georgia’s "heartbeat" law, which bans most abortions once a "detectable human heartbeat" exists at about six weeks of pregnancy. The law defines a miscarriage as a "spontaneous abortion" and says that removing "a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion" is legal. When Kemp signed the law in May 2019, we examined claims that women would be prosecuted. We found that the law neither spells out what happens to a woman who has an illegal abortion, nor directly says miscarriages can be investigated. The law was prevented from going into effect until after Roe’s reversal removed the constitutional right to an abortion. A federal appeals court ruling July 20 allowed the law to go into effect immediately. How the law treats miscarriage To support the claim, Abrams’ campaign cited news stories that raised questions about whether Georgia women who had miscarriages could be investigated. The stories centered on the difficulty of determining whether a woman pregnant for about six weeks miscarried naturally or had an abortion. Featured Fact-check Liquid Death stated on October 27, 2022 in an ad In Georgia, it's "illegal to give people water within 150 feet of a polling place" and "punishable by up to a year in prison." By Tom Kertscher • November 7, 2022 The Abrams campaign did not cite any instances of Kemp saying he wanted women to be investigated for miscarriages. Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said medically differentiating between miscarriage that occurs around six weeks and an abortion can be difficult. So, Kreis said, "there is this open question about whether miscarriages will be liable to investigation, and the answer is yes." However, spokespersons for Kemp’s campaign and the governor’s office maintained that under Georgia’s law, a woman cannot be prosecuted for getting an abortion or for having a miscarriage. "The governor has addressed questions about the bill multiple times. He has never indicated support for investigating women who experience a miscarriage," said Kemp campaign spokesperson Tate Mitchell. In a search of the Nexis news database, we did not find that Kemp made any statements regarding the law, miscarriages and investigations or punishment of women. Joshua Edmonds, who helped draft the law when he was executive director of the Georgia Life Alliance, an anti-abortion group, said he believes the law was written to protect women from being prosecuted. "We agreed this precludes women from investigation or prosecution," he said. But Kreis said the law’s "heartbeat" provision could expose a woman to a police investigation. He said someone in a dispute with a woman could report her ended pregnancy as an illegal abortion to police, who might feel compelled to investigate. Such a case theoretically could result in a district attorney charging that woman with murder, given that the law essentially defines life as beginning when a heartbeat is detected, he said. "It all comes down to how aggressive does any particular law enforcement agency want to be, how aggressive does any county DA want to be," Kreis said. On Aug. 8, a Georgia state judge heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging the law and said he would issue a ruling soon. The hearing focused on whether the judge has the power to block the law temporarily and whether the law was invalid because it violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted, The Associated Press reported. Our ruling Abrams said Kemp "wants to investigate and punish women for having miscarriages." Kemp has not said he wants women investigated or punished for pregnancies that end in miscarriage. A six-week abortion law Kemp signed said miscarriage is legal. The law does not prohibit investigating women who get an illegal abortion. Therefore some legal experts believe women could be investigated if there are questions about whether they miscarried or had an illegal abortion. But that’s a separate question from what Abrams claimed. Her statement about Kemp is not accurate, so we rate it False. RELATED: Fact-checking ads in the 2022 campaigns RELATED: Now that Roe is gone, what happens in the states? RELATED: Georgia fact-checks RELATED: Fact-checks on aborti

"Boston Children’s Hospital is now offering 'gender-affirming hysterectomies' for young girls. A viral tweet falsely claims that a pediatric hospital is offering surgical treatment for transgender children. "Boston Children's Hospital is now offering 'gender-affirming hysterectomies' for young girls," read an Aug. 11 tweet from Libs of TikTok, a conservative Twitter account with more than 1 million followers. "This is monstrous," Stephen Miller, who worked in the Trump administration, tweeted in a reply to Libs of TikTok. "How does anyone involved in this still have a medical license?" Libs of TikTok's tweet included a video of a physician at Boston Children's Hospital discussing gender-affirming hysterectomies — or the removal of the uterus, cervix and fallopian tubes. Nowhere in the 33-second video did the physician suggest that the procedure is offered to children. The notion, however, seemed to rely on the hospital having "children" in its name. The Center for Gender Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital did not respond to PolitiFact's request for comment. Although the Center for Gender Surgery is inside a pediatric hospital, medical treatment is offered only to "eligible adolescents and young adults," the center's website said. The hospital adheres to medical guidelines developed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, which doesn't recommend surgical treatment for children. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 19, 2022 in a post The diphtheria vaccine is a “poison dart” with side effects worse than the symptoms of diphtheria. By Andy Nguyen • October 24, 2022 "Surgery is never the first step in a gender transition," reads the hospital's website. "It is something that happens after you have already explored social and medical transition options." The procedures highlighted in the tweet — hysterectomies — are done in connection with genital reassignment surgeries such as phalloplasty and metoidioplasty. To qualify for the procedure at Boston Children's Hospital, patients must be 18 or older and have a letter from a medical doctor stating they have "persistent, well-documented, gender dysphoria," per the hospital's website. The hospital also requires a letter from a mental health provider stating patients are ready for the surgery and fully understand the "procedure and recovery needs, fertility implications of surgery, and risks of surgery." Our ruling A tweet said, "Boston Children's Hospital is now offering 'gender-affirming hysterectomies' for young girls." That's wrong. The Center for Gender Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital does not provide hysterectomies to patients younger than 18. Hysterectomies are a requirement for patients seeking gender-affirming surgery such as phalloplasty or ​​metoidioplasty. To qualify for the procedure at Boston Children's Hospital, patients must also provide a letter from a medical doctor stating they have "persistent, well-documented, gender dysphoria." We rate this claim False

"Adam Laxalt fought an investigation into the oil industry, then they funded his campaign. In a toss-up race that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto accused Republican Adam Laxalt of using his former job as Nevada’s attorney general to help an industry that later helped him run for governor. Cortez Masto, who also served as the state’s attorney general, made the attack in a six-second video on Snapchat. "Adam Laxalt fought an investigation into the oil industry," the narrator says. "Then they funded his campaign." Cortez Masto made essentially the same claim about Laxalt and the oil industry in a TV ad. A different TV ad, by a super PAC affiliated with the League of Conservation Voters, also targeted Laxalt’s ties to the oil industry. As attorney general in 2016, Laxalt opposed investigations of the oil industry in other states. When Laxalt ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, a super PAC largely funded by oil interests did not contribute directly to his campaign, but said it spent $2.5 million on ads to support his run. Climate change investigations Cortez Masto’s Snapchat ad, scheduled to run June 17 to Aug. 23, cited a news story about Laxalt’s efforts as attorney general in 2016 to block an investigation of Exxon Mobil’s alleged role in downplaying climate change. The article said a subpoena issued to Exxon as part of the investigation named several organizations funded by billionaire oil industry brothers Charles and David Koch, but it did not identify the organizations. Here’s the relevant chronology: 2015 — Reporting on Exxon’s role in climate change debate: Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times published reports revealing that Exxon Mobil went from being a pioneer in climate change research to spending millions on a campaign to raise doubt about climate change. Nov. 5, 2015 — New York attorney general investigates Exxon: Then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, subpoenaed documents from Exxon as part of his investigation into whether the company lied to the public about climate change’s risks, news organizations disclosed. Editorials later that month in Bloomberg News and The Washington Post said the investigation raised concerns about Schneiderman’s tactics. The Post said there’s a risk "whenever law enforcement holds the prospect of criminal penalties over those involved in a scientific debate." An editorial in USA Today raised First Amendment concerns. March 29, 2016 — Other attorneys general join Schneiderman: Schneiderman announced that he and 14 fellow Democratic attorneys general created a coalition vowing to "defend climate change progress made under President Obama" that would include "ongoing and potential investigations into whether fossil fuel companies misled investors and the public on the impact of climate change on their businesses." Laxalt’s actions June 15, 2016 — Laxalt, other GOP AGs object: Laxalt and 12 other Republican state attorneys general signed a letter addressed to fellow attorneys general around the country urging them to "stop policing viewpoints." The letter noted the Schneiderman coalition’s reference to investigations of fossil fuel companies and to Schneiderman’s subpoenas to Exxon, saying, "We think this effort by our colleagues to police the global warming debate through the power of the subpoena is a grave mistake." The same day, Exxon filed a court motion to block a demand for documents by the Massachusetts attorney general, who had begun investigating Exxon. Featured Fact-check Adam Laxalt stated on November 20, 2022 in an ad “Biden and Democrats have dismantled border security.” By Maria Ramirez Uribe • November 3, 2022 Sept. 8, 2016 — Laxalt backs Exxon in court: Laxalt joined 10 other Republican attorneys general in filing a court brief supporting an attempt by Exxon to stop the Massachusetts investigation. The brief said attorneys general do not have the right to do investigations "to promulgate a social ideology, or chill the expression of points of view, in international policy debates." Campaign spending for Laxalt On the campaign funding part of its claim, the ad alludes to a news article that said the Koch-backed Freedom Partners Action Fund spent $2.5 million on advertising to support Laxalt’s gubernatorial campaign. There is no record of the so-called independent expenditures, the $2.5 million, because neither the Federal Election Commission nor Nevada required the super PAC to disclose them, Pete Quist, deputy research director of the nonprofit OpenSecrets, told PolitiFact. Nevada law required the independent expenditures happen without coordinating with a campaign, and limited campaign contributions to $5,000 for the primary election and $5,000 for the general election at the time, Quist said, whether from individuals, PACs or others. By industry, the largest donor to the super PAC during the 2018 election cycle was oil and gas, at $4.13 million, OpenSecrets reported. But $3.88 million was from individuals in that industry; the rest was from organizations. The next-largest donor group by industry, as defined by OpenSecrets, were retirees, at $2.69 million; and electronics and manufacturing equipment, at $2 million. The largest donor during the cycle was the Charles G. Koch 1997 Trust, related to Koch Industries, at $3 million, according to OpenSecrets. Forbes rated Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kansas, as America’s second-largest private company in 2021. Its industries include oil and gas refining, but also chemicals and biofuels; forest and consumer products; fertilizers; and polymers and fibers. Charles and David Koch launched the super PAC in 2014 and closed down its operations on July 30, 2019. Our ruling Cortez Masto said Laxalt "fought an investigation into the oil industry, then they funded his campaign." In 2016, Laxalt, a Republican, opposed efforts by Democratic attorneys general to investigate whether oil companies had made fraudulent disclosures about climate change. Laxalt also helped Exxon Mobil fight one of the investigations, which Republican attorneys general criticized as a threat to First Amendment rights. A super PAC said it spent $2.5 million on ads to support Laxalt’s 2018 run for Nevada governor, but did not contribute those funds directly to Laxalt’s campaign. The industry group that donated the largest amount of money to the PAC was oil and gas, though the vast majority of those funds were from individuals, not oil organizations. Cortez Masto’s claim is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate it Half True. RELATED: Fact-checking ads in the 2022 campaigns RELATED: GOP Nevada Senate hopeful Adam Laxalt backed birth control restrictions as attorney general RELATED: Warnock, Cortez Masto voted for COVID-19 relief bill, but not for leisure projects it hel

"President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots! First, Donald Trump compared the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of his home for documents to the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 emails. Then, he compared it to the Watergate break-in. By Aug. 12, he pointed the finger at former President Barack Obama to suggest that it was the Democrat who had walked away with millions of records. "President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified," Trump said in an Aug. 12 statement sent to the media. "How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!" A day earlier, Trump asked whether federal agents would be "breaking into Obama’s ‘mansion’ in Martha’s Vineyard?" Trump made these statements in the days after the FBI executed a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in search of official documents. It is a federal crime to willfully remove or destroy official records. RELATED: Read the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, what agents took Trump’s suggestion that Obama had personally kept millions of documents including classified materials is wrong. The National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, said in response to Trump’s statement that "former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the presidential records of his administration." The National Archives said it "assumed exclusive legal and physical custody of Obama presidential records when President Barack Obama left office in 2017." The agency said about 30 million pages of unclassified records went to a National Archives facility in the Chicago area. Classified Obama presidential records are in a facility in the Washington, D.C., area. The National Archives oversees the Obama presidential records The records agency’s statement is not a surprise, because the arrangement to preserve Obama’s records has been publicly known since 2016. The Chicago Tribune reported in spring 2016 that the paperwork, electronic data and artifacts from Obama’s presidency would temporarily go to the old Plunkett Home Furnishings store on Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The Tribune wrote that the National Archives would bring in as many as 120 employees to sort through the material. The records agency described the Hoffman Estates site as a "NARA-controlled facility." In May 2017, the Obama Foundation and National Archives announced that the foundation would fund the digitization of all of the unclassified presidential records created during Obama’s administration. Government facilities would house the original materials. The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago won’t be in the library network operated by the National Archives, unlike other presidential libraries. The center will be privately operated and built by the Obama Foundation, which will raise money for the center. It remains under construction with an expected opening date of 2025. But the National Archives continue to own and control the documents. During the digitization project, a memorandum of understanding between the National Archives and the foundation said, "NARA will not be transferring control, custody, or ownership over any of the Records to the Foundation, the Vendor, or any other third party." As recently as June 2022, the archives notified Obama’s lawyers that it had cleared the release of about 14,000 items requested through the Freedom of Information Act. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 The Presidential Libraries Act of 1955 set into law the National Archives’ role in maintaining, operating, and protecting them as a presidential archival depository. The National Archives said in 2021 that these digitization plans were on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the agency also said Obama’s presidential records would become subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on Jan. 20, 2022, and that the agency would process textual records. FOIA requests are typically made by journalists and other researchers seeking access to presidential records. The National Archives said in June that it intended to open Obama’s presidential records in response to the processing projects and FOIA requests and that some materials were restricted under exemptions. The plan to digitize the records remains in place. NARA’s statements don’t specifically mention records about "nuclear" weapons or materials, but NARA wrote that "the classified records have been relocated to the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, to facilitate their review for declassification." As for the number of documents, Trump first said Obama had 30 million, and then said he had 33 million, which matched the number of Clinton emails. NARA said although "the vast majority of the material transferred into the custody of the National Archives from the Obama administration was ‘born digital’ (the 300 million emails are equivalent to over one billion pages), the 30 million pages of paper records are an integral part of the collection." Bradley Moss, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who works on national security cases, called Trump’s statement "complete and utter nonsense." "There are literal media reports from before the 2016 election outlining how the Obama White House had already begun sorting through and shipping everything to NARA," Moss said, citing a 2016 CNN report about the transfer of records to the National Archives. Benjamin Hufbauer, a University of Louisville associate professor of art history and an expert on presidential libraries, said Obama can look at his records, for example, for writing his memoirs, but "under controlled conditions and under the supervision of professional archivists." We emailed a Trump spokesperson to ask for his evidence and received no response. Our ruling Trump said, "President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!" Trump is wrong. News reports starting in 2016 showed that the National Archives and Records Administration would oversee transfer of Obama’s presidential records. The agency announced it would digitize the records and that classified records were sent to a facility in College Park, Maryland. Obama does not have them. We rate this statement Pants on Fire! RELATED: Could Trump argue he declassified the documents found in the Mar-a-Lago search? RELATED: Have people been prosecuted for mishandling White House records? RELATED: Comparing Hillary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s boxes of files RELATED: Can Donald Trump run for president if charged and convicted of removing official record

The government is arming up the IRS because “Joe Biden is raising taxes and disarming Americans. A division of the IRS that has existed for more than a century is getting a lot of attention on social media and conservative media. Fox News host Tucker Carlson led a segment on his Aug. 4, 2022, show by telling his audience to be worried because the government is "treating the IRS as a military agency" and "stockpiling" ammunition. He asked guest U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., "Why would the IRS need millions of dollars worth of guns and ammo?" Gaetz replied, "Well, Joe Biden is raising taxes, disarming Americans, so of course they are arming up the IRS like they are preparing to take Fallujah." Gaetz's comments about Biden came after Carlson cited reports from 2018 and 2020 about IRS spending on weapons and ammunition — expenditures that happened before Biden took office. Gaetz went on to say that the IRS has also spent $731,000 this year — he didn’t say specifically on what — "to quite literally weaponize your country against you." In June, Gaetz, who has co-sponsored a bill to prevent the IRS from purchasing ammunition, made a similar allegation in an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters. Then he accused the Biden administration of suppressing access to ammunition "for regular Americans" while "scooping up all of the ammo they can possibly find." In that interview, he said the IRS spent $725,000 this year on ammunition. He also cited that figure in a June press release about his bill. A spokesperson for Gaetz did not return a request for comment regarding the grounds for his claim. Here’s what we know: The IRS did spend about $725,000 on ammunition this year. But that is not unusual, and is actually a bit less than what was spent in other recent years. These purchases are not new or unique to the Biden administration — they have been made for an IRS division that has been armed for more than a century. The IRS buys guns and ammunition yearly for IRS Criminal Investigation, the division that has jurisdiction over federal tax crimes. The people who work there are not the typical auditors that Americans facing routine audits will encounter. The vast majority of those audits are done by mail. The division in which agents are armed was established in 1919, when it was called the Intelligence Unit, according to the division’s 2019 report. The unit famously investigated gangster Al Capone, who was convicted on tax evasion charges. It was renamed the IRS Criminal Investigation in 1978. Special agents in the division investigate a number of crimes, including money laundering, cybercrime, financial fraud and narcotics-related crimes. Recently they’ve been part of a multiagency task force tracking down assets of Russian oligarchs. The division had 2,046 special agents in 2021, a little less than the 2,159 agents it had in 2017. Those numbers haven’t changed much in five years, according to annual reports available on its website; the 2022 report has not been published. The numbers haven’t changed much in decades. In the division’s 2017 report, then-division chief Don Fort wrote, "We have the same number of special agents — around 2,200 — as we did 50 years ago." Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 17, 2022 in una publicación en Facebook "Ministros de Defensa de OTAN deciden invadir a RUSIA para prevenir ataque de Putin”. By Maria Ramirez Uribe • October 17, 2022 Special agents train for weeks at the National Criminal Investigation Training Academy in Georgia, the 2021 report said. That includes firearms training and handgun qualifications for agents, which is a big reason for the large orders for ammunition. The IRS Criminal Investigation division ordered $725,460 worth of ammunition in fiscal year 2022, according to figures provided to PolitiFact by Justin Cole, the division’s communications director. That’s slightly more than the money spent in 2021 ($655,013) and 2020 ($616,619). According to a 2018 report (page 75 of the PDF) to Congress by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on firearms and ammunition purchases by federal law enforcement agencies, the IRS spent about $1.1 million on ammunition in 2011 and about $1 million in 2012. From 2010 to 2017, it averaged $712,500 in ammunition spending. The report described its numbers as minimum values because agencies reported challenges compiling requested data. The report also said the IRS had 4,461 firearms and about 5 million rounds of ammunition in stock as of November 2017. The report notes the numbers don’t include weapons or ammunition purchased for a small, separate IRS police force of fewer than a dozen officers that provides security at the Enterprise Computing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The report’s authors noted that officials at law enforcement agencies said they keep ammunition on hand to last for several months for use in training and operation, and that they order large quantities because sometimes there’s a long wait, up to a year, before the orders can be fulfilled. The Government Accountability Office said that it does not have more recent data available. The IRS is not the only government agency that some people may be surprised to find purchasing guns and ammunition for law enforcement officers. Gaetz mentioned the Department of Agriculture, which buys weapons and ammunition for the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Education, which purchases them for its Office of the Inspector General. The GAO report lists several others, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. As to Gaetz’s claim that these efforts come because Biden is "raising taxes and disarming Americans," there is no evidence that the IRS’ longstanding spending on weapons and ammunition is connected to Biden’s positions on taxes and gun restrictions. Biden supports a House bill to ban certain assault weapons, but that measure is not likely to pass in the Senate and, even if it did, does not amount to a plan to wholesale disarm American citizens. Biden’s plan to raise taxes targets corporations and high-earning money managers, assuming the Inflation Reduction Act passes the U.S. House. That bill may have secondary effects on average Americans that are hard to measure, experts told PolitiFact. But, even so, the routine audits the IRS performs on average Americans do not involve those armed agents who deal with criminal investigations. Our ruling Gaetz claimed that the government is arming up the IRS because the president is raising taxes and disarming Americans, citing the amount of money spent on ammunition by the agency this year. But there’s been no significant increase in spending on ammunition, and Gaetz ignores that the IRS Criminal Investigation division has existed for more than a century and that the weapons and ammunition are for those law enforcement officers. That division had fewer special agents in 2021 than it had in 2017, but the number of agents has stayed about the same for decades. The $725,000 the division spent this year on ammunition, much of which is used for agents’ firearms training, is only slightly more than was spent in recent years and less than was spent a decade ago. There is no evidence this continued tradition of spending by the IRS has any connection to Biden’s positions on taxes and gun restrictions. We rate this claim False. RELATED: Kevin McCarthy’s mostly false claim about an army of 87,000 IRS agents

A photo shows Ghislaine Maxwell and Bruce Reinhart Bruce Reinhart, the federal magistrate judge who signed off on the warrant allowing federal agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, once worked as a defense attorney representing employees of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But a photo now circulating online that appears to show Reinhart with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstien sex traffick children, was doctored. "The dude on the right signed the Mar ALago warrant," reads one description of the image that appears to show Maxwell massaging Reinhart’s bare feet as he holds oreos, a bottle of bourbon and a red plastic cup. "Ghislaine Maxwell and Judge Bruce Reinhart … looking cozy!" another says. On Aug. 11, Brian Kilmeade, filling in as host of the Fox News show "Tucker Carlson Tonight," shared the altered image during a broadcast. Sean Hannity later noted that the photo was altered. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Posts sharing these images were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) In the original photo, Maxwell is massaging Epstein’s feet. An FBI agent testified during Maxwell’s trial that it was among a series of photos seized during a raid of Epstein’s Manhattan home in 2019. RELATED VIDEO The photo of Reinhart that was used in the altered image appears to have been shared on his Facebook page in 2017. We rate claims that the photo of Maxwell and Reinhart is authentic False.

"Governor Tony Evers gave counties the green light to defund Wisconsin's police departments. Heading into November, look for Republicans to hammer Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on crime and police funding. Indeed, they already have been. As Republicans were still picking Tim Michels as their nominee to face Evers, the Republican Governors Association sent an email blast to Wisconsin reporters on July 29, 2022 that contained this quote from spokeswoman Maddie Anderson: "Wisconsin families are desperate for a leader whose top priority is keeping their communities safe. Instead, Governor Tony Evers gave counties the green light to defund Wisconsin's police departments. Elections have consequences, and Evers will come to find that out very soon." The email came after a violent week in Milwaukee left a 6-year-old girl dead. The defund the police angle is an echo of attacks on Democrats that began after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the nation. Many protests called for police budgets to be dramatically cut or, in some cases, the departments eliminated and replaced. We rated False a previous claim by Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch that Evers is "a big proponent of this defund the police movement." In fact, Evers has said slashing police budgets "goes too far" and directed $100 million in COVID relief money toward enhancing law enforcement. So, let’s look at the RGA claim that Evers gave cities and counties "the green light" to defund police departments. A veto and a message When asked for backup, Anderson pointed to an Aug. 6, 2021, veto by Evers of a bill that would have cut state aid to cities and counties that reduced any part of their police budgets and given that money instead to cities that didn’t cut police spending. He vetoed it on the same day he signed a separate Republican bill to set use of force standards for police departments. In an Aug. 1, 2022 email, Anderson argued: "He vetoed a bill that would have dissuaded counties from defunding police departments. Sent a clear message to counties that there is no penalty for defunding or reallocating resources from police departments. Hence the green light." Let’s dig deeper. Featured Fact-check Tim Michels stated on October 24, 2022 in News conference Tony Evers “wants to let out between 9,000 and 10,000 more” Wisconsin prisoners By Madeline Heim • November 4, 2022 First, we should note that the veto means there is something behind the claim, even if it’s now being misrepresented. Despite how Anderson framed it, the Evers veto leaves the status quo in place. In that respect, nothing changes. And, as we know, state aid and local governments, particularly as it relates to police spending, can get sticky. In his veto message, Evers said he killed the bill because it placed "onerous restrictions" on the ability of local governments to set their budgets. The bill would have reduced shared revenue payments to municipalities that decreased spending on police, fire and emergency services or reduced the number of people employed in those areas. The legislation specifically targeted municipalities employing at least 30 people in those areas and only applied to portions of the emergency service budget for hiring, training and retaining employees. The nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum issued reports in June 2020 and August 2021 on police funding trends in Wisconsin. The reports found spending on policing n Wisconsin peaked in 2013 and was trending downward well before the rise of the "defund the police" approach captured national attention. Even as funding has fallen, spending on police remains the largest piece of municipal spending in the state. The forum concluded those declines in funding are more related to counties and municipalities struggling under state-imposed limits on how much they can collect in the property tax levy and flat state aid. Local governments have largely shielded police and fire services from budget cuts in the past decade, the report found. Anderson’s argument that the veto gives a green light on cutting budgets runs counter to the governor’s own statements and actions. Just days after the Floyd case, Evers specifically opposed cutting spending on law enforcement in a meeting with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters and editors. In a June 4, 2020 article, Evers was quoted as saying: "We're always going to need police service" and that "to completely defund police departments ... that isn't going to work.’" Later, as noted, Evers provided more than $100 million to law enforcement through federal relief funds. Our ruling The Republican Governors Association claimed Evers gave Wisconsin counties "the green light" to defund the police. A spokesperson for the association pointed to a veto of a Republican bill that would penalize counties and municipalities that reduce police budgets regardless of context. So, it’s not like there is nothing there. But that veto simply kept the status quo – it was not a proactive step by Evers to force or encourage cities and counties to cut law enforcement. What’s more, Evers has flatly stated he does not support defunding the police, and directed $100 million in pandemic aid to law enforcement. So, the statement "contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." That’s what we call Mostly False. window.gciAnalyticsUAID = 'PMJS-TEALIUM-COBRAND'; window.gciAnalyticsLoadEvents = false; window.gciAnalytics.view({ 'event-type': 'pageview', 'content-type': 'interactives', 'content-ssts-section': 'news', 'content-ssts-subsection': 'news:politics', 'content-ssts-topic': 'news:politics:politifactwisconsin', 'content-ssts-subtopic': ' news:politics:politifactwisconsin' });

“Pennsylvania sent out 1,823,148 mail-in ballots. They got back 2,589,242. Just as some Americans continue to circulate the disproved claim that Democrats stole Donald Trump’s win in the 2020 presidential re-election, they continue to share other misinformation about the contest that President Joe Biden won legally. "Never forget Pennsylvania sent out 1,823,148 mail-in ballots," an Aug. 8 Facebook post says. "They got back 2,589,242." But those numbers conflate mail-in ballot data from two different elections and suggest there was election fraud. There wasn’t, and this post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) According to data from the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania, Keystone State voters made 1,823,148 mail-in ballot requests for the 2020 primary election on June 2. Nearly 1.5 million absentee and mail-in ballots were ultimately cast. For the 2020 general election, held in November, 3,087,524 mail-in ballots were requested and 2,629,672 were returned, according to data from the Pennsylvania secretary of state that was analyzed by the U.S. Elections Project, a website tracking voter turnout, including early voting, for elections nationwide that’s run by Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political science professor. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 8, 2022 in a Facebook post There’s “evidence of a massive transfer of completed, curated ballots” that are fraudulent in the 2022 election. By Ciara O'Rourke • October 11, 2022 This claim dates back to shortly after the 2020 election when Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani tried, during a hearing, to argue that there had been election fraud in Pennsylvania and said "mailed ballots sent out, 1,823,148. But when you get to the count of the final count of the vote, there were 2,589,242 mail-in-ballots." RELATED VIDEO Around the same time, Doug Mastriano, a Republican state senator from Pennsylvania, tweeted a chart that went viral that said "Pennsylvania reports having mailed out 1,823,148 ballots of which 1,462,302 were returned. Yet total mail-in voters number 2,589,242? From where did the extra 1,126,940 votes come?" Mastriano is running for Pennsylvania governor. Fact-checkers from numerous news outlets then debunked the allegations. They’re still wrong. We rate claims that Pennsylvania got more mail-in ballots back than they sent out during the 2020 general election False.

A "Delta Force” seized a shipment of weapons headed to the IRS Much of the reaction shared on social media about a Democratic bill that would provide billions of dollars in new funding for the IRS has focused on fears that more Americans will face tax audits as a result. But one outlandish claim suggested those new IRS agents might soon be coming to your door armed to the teeth to collect your taxes, if not for a dramatic early morning intervention by "Delta Force" soldiers. An Aug. 8 TikTok video’s headline read, "Delta Force seizes IRS weapons shipment." The video shows screenshots of an article with that same headline. But the article is from Real Raw News, a website that has a long track record of creating fake news stories. TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact's partnership with TikTok.) The article describes 16 soldiers and four SUVs stopping a tractor-trailer from entering the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland soon after Vice President "Kabula Harris" cast the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act on Aug. 7. That bill, the article said, allows the IRS "to hire and arm 87,000 new agents." The number is misleading. It comes from a year-old IRS document about new hires numbering 86,852 full-time positions, but a portion of that would be used to replace retiring employees, and the hiring covered three areas — taxpayer service, enforcement and IT. The article goes on with an alarming — and wholly unsubstantiated — story: The truck’s driver and passenger were gagged and zip-tied and taken away in one of the SUVs, the article claimed, and inside the trailer were "23,500 crated Sig Sauer P229s and 160,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition, ostensibly intended for the IRS’s enhanced police force." There is no evidence any of this happened and this scenario hasn’t been featured in any legitimate news coverage. After initial publication of this article, an IRS spokesperson confirmed to PolitiFact that this did not happen. This scenario hasn’t been featured in any legitimate news coverage. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 The IRS has a criminal investigation division for which it buys weapons and ammunition. Agents who are armed investigate crimes such as money laundering and organized crime and sometimes interact with dangerous criminals, a spokesperson told Verify fact-checkers. But a regular American facing an audit, many of which are done via mail, shouldn’t worry about doing so at gunpoint. Real Raw News’ stories bear the pseudonymous byline of "Michael Baxter." We found the person behind the site had previously run other websites and YouTube channels that promoted conspiracy theories. Real Raw News’ "about us" page contains a disclaimer that information on the site "is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire." Our ruling A TikTok video shared an article claiming that the military seized a truckload of weapons headed to the IRS. The tax agency does purchase weapons and ammunition for its criminal division, so there would be no reason to try to keep that quiet, as the article suggests, or to confiscate the weapons. The article was published on a website with a documented history of fabricating stories, often involving the military. We rate this Pants on Fire! PolitiFact staff writer Jon Greenberg contributed to this report. UPDATE, Aug. 12, 2022: This story has been updated to reflect that, after initial publication, a spokesperson for the IRS confirmed to PolitiFact that the events detailed in this claim did not happen. The rating is unchanged.

“Abigail Spanberger still votes with and shares Joe Biden’s positions 100% of the time.” President Joe Biden won’t be on ballots this fall, but his name will loom in Virginia’s closely-watched 7th Congressional District race between incumbent Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Yesli Vega. Vega, a Prince William County supervisor, is trying to tie Spanberger to Biden, who has a low 39% approval rating in Virginia, according to a recent poll. "Abigail Spanberger still votes with and shares Joe Biden’s positions 100% of the time," Vega said in a July 11 Facebook post. We fact-checked Vega’s claim and found it to be largely correct. Vega relied on data from FiveThirtyEight, a nonpartisan website that collects and analyzes statistics on politics, sports and other topics. The site keeps records of each Congress member’s presidential support — the percentage of times a congress member votes in support of the president when the White House has taken a clear position on legislation. The website identifies 73 bills and resolutions on which Biden stated a position since taking office in January 2021. Spanberger backed Biden each time, including votes to: Expand firearm regulations; Cap out-of-pocket insulin costs; Strengthen voting rights laws; Expand debt limits; Protect abortion rights; Invest $1.2 trillion in infrastructure; Provide $1.9 trillion for COVID-19 relief. Featured Fact-check Levar Stoney stated on October 26, 2022 in a news conference. “I don’t get involved in the hiring and firing of police chiefs.” By Warren Fiske • November 2, 2022 Although Spanberger has always voted for Biden’s agenda, Vega overshoots in additionally saying Spanberger shares the president’s positions all of the time. In July, Fox News called her one "of a handful of Democrats to break with her party to call attention to the southern border crisis." Spanberger disagreed with Biden’s efforts this spring to lift an emergency health order to turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. She has pushed Biden to take stronger steps to prevent fentanyl from crossing the border. Some perspective Spanberger’s voting record is typical in this highly partisan era; 199 of the 225 Democrats who have served in the House since Biden’s inauguration have 100% voting records with him. The lowest level of support by a House Democrat is 84.1%, by Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine. Conversely, the median level of House Republican support for Biden is 11%. Only five of 216 Republicans have voted with Biden more than half of the time. Donald Trump, during the final two years of his presidency, had median support of 92.5% from Republican House members and 6.8% from Democrats. It should also be noted that presidential support is one way to measure a congress member’s partisanship. Spanberger points to another way that’s used by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. It gauges how often a member of Congress introduces bills that attract co-sponsors from the other party, and how often they in turn co-sponsor a bill introduced from across the aisle. Under this method, Spanberger was rated the fifth most bipartisan House member in 2021 — the most recent report. Spanberger also points to a broad analysis of House votes by ProPublica, a non-profit investigative journalism service. It shows that she agreed with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on 389 of 840 votes — or 46% of the time - since January 2021. Spanberger is seeking to distance herself from Biden this fall. She told Fox News in June that she’s not planning to stump with Biden. "I intend to do the campaigning myself," she said. "I am the candidate. It’s my name on the ballot." Our ruling Vega said, "Abigail Spanberger still votes with and shares Joe Biden’s positions 100% of the time." Vega correctly cites data from a nonpartisan website that measures the percentage of times a congress member votes in support of the president when the White House has taken a clear position on legislation. Spanberger’s record is not unique — 198 other Democratic House members also have 100% voting records with Biden since he became president. Vega oversteps, however, in saying Spanberger shares Biden’s position all the time. She has, for example, disagreed with portions of Biden’s U.S.-Mexico border policies that have not been subject to votes. All told, we rate Vega’s statement Mostly Tru

Electric cars in California are not sustainable as only 10% of their batteries are recyclable and the state can’t recycle them As part of his $10 billion zero-emission vehicle plan to fight climate change, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to phase out gasoline-powered cars in favor of electric powered ones by 2035. And President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, passed Aug. 7 by the U.S. Senate, would give Americans a tax credit of up to $7,500 to defray the cost of buying an electric vehicle. But an Instagram post claims difficulty with recycling lithium-ion batteries, the fuel cells in electric vehicles, will render this push toward zero-emission vehicles impractical. A video posted June 9 and shared by others features a woman talking about California officials advocating for more renewable energy and for residents to drive electric cars. The woman makes several claims, including that the push for more electric cars is not a "sustainable solution" as there isn’t a plant in California that can recycle their batteries once they die. "There’s only three (electric car battery recycling plants) in the United States, and they can only recycle about 10% of the materials, which means the balance will go into landfills," she says. "This could do more damage to our planet in a matter of 10 years than fossil fuels have done in 100 years." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Instagram is owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) While the woman was right in saying California doesn't have a plant dedicated to recycling electric car batteries, the situation isn't as dire as she claimed. The woman was also wrong in her statement about the recyclability of lithium-ion car batteries. Getting rid of electric car batteries Most electric car batteries last at least 100,000 miles before their ability to hold a charge seriously degrades, according to Carfax. With Americans driving an average of 13,476 miles each year, that translates to at least seven years of reliable service. Most batteries will go for significantly longer than the initial 100,000 miles before dying. The first major wave of electric car batteries dying off is expected to happen within the next 10 to 15 years, the BBC reported. Unlike lead-acid batteries, which are small and easily recyclable, electric cars use battery packs that are larger and composed of hundreds of individual lithium-ion batteries. The hazardous materials within a battery pack can spark a fire or explode if handled or disposed of incorrectly. Also, California lacks an electric car battery recycling plant; there are only five such facilities currently operating in the U.S. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 12, 2022 in a Facebook post “Trump woken up from his bed by police.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 14, 2022 However, Alissa Kendall, a UC Davis civil and environmental engineering professor, told PolitiFact that California not having a recycling facility was a "particularly irrelevant" point, as there are "many things we recycle or process in the U.S. economy that don’t have a site in every state." Kendall said Nevada-based Redwood Materials launched an electric car battery recycling program in California in February and partnered with California car dealerships and battery dismantlers to collect lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will be sent to Redwood’s recycling facility in Nevada. Kendall was the lead author of a California Environmental Protection Agency report in May that said electric car battery recycling was a relatively new, but growing industry.The report also made several recommendations to the California Legislature for improving electric car battery recycling. Meanwhile, there are several ways to recycle electric car batteries, all of which reclaim significantly more material than the 10% the Instagram video cited. One method is through smelting, which melts a battery down at a high temperature until its materials separate from one another. Because this method requires a lot of greenhouse gas-producing energy but recovers only about 40% to 50% of a battery’s material, it’s less widely used, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.. The other two recycling methods, which are more widely used, involve shredding lithium-ion batteries into small pieces. A shredded battery can be recycled directly, by removing and separating its parts by hand, or through hydrometallurgy, in which the batteries' pieces are submerged in a solution and chemically separated. These shredding methods can recover up to 90% to 95% of a battery’s components. Kendall said lithium-ion batteries’ worst-case environmental impact would still be less than fossil fuels’. "While we certainly can improve mining practices and recycling systems for every material and product in our economy, there are very few measures whereby oil and gas extraction and refining are less harmful than lithium extraction (for electric car batteries)," she said. Our ruling A woman in an Instagram video claims California’s push for electric cars is not sustainable in part because California does not have a recycling facility that can handle the lithium-ion batteries in cars and that the recycling facilities in the country can recycle only 10% of the batteries’ material. While California so far has no lithium-ion battery recycling plant, the California Environmental Protection Agency report said lithium-ion battery recycling is still a fairly new industry with room for growth. Also, companies from other states are partnering with California to recycle its batteries. Furthermore, current recycling methods can recover from half to up to 95% of the material used lithium-ion batteries, far more than the post’s claim of a 10% recovery rate. We rate this claim Fals

"Urgente! China confirma la invasión de Los Ángeles y Baja California! Prepararon 1000 destructores! Un usuario en Facebook publicó un video alegando falsamente que China prepara una invasión en Los Ángeles y Baja California, México. El video dice que en una conferencia de prensa el ministro de exteriores de China anunció que China movilizará 1,000 destructores hacia Estados Unidos luego de la visita de la presidenta de la cámara de representantes Nancy Pelosi a Taiwan. "Urgente! China confirma la invasión de Los Ángeles y Baja California! Prepararon 1000 destructores!", dice la publicación del 8 de agosto. El post fue marcado como parte del esfuerzo de Facebook para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Facebook.) Una búsqueda de la conferencia de prensa resultó en un artículo del South China Morning Post en el cual muestra al ministro de exteriores Wang Yi advirtiendo a los Estados Unidos que "no provoquen una crisis mayor" con la visita de Pelosi a Taiwan. El 8 de agosto el gobierno Chino anunció que extendería sus ejercicios militares cerca de Taiwan dado a la visita de Pelosi a Taiwan, incrementando las tensiones entre los Estados Unidos y China. Pero actualmente no hay evidencia que China piensa invadir a los Estados Unidos. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 PolitiFact no encontró informes o evidencia que Baja California, México esté en peligro de una invasión. El departamento de defensa de Estados Unidos le confirmó a PolitiFact que esta publicación es falsa. Nuestra calificación Un usuario en Facebook alegó, "Urgente! China confirma la invasión de Los Ángeles y Baja California! Prepararon 1000 destructores!" Eso no es cierto. China no ha confirmado una invasión en Los Ángeles y Baja California, aunque sí incrementó sus ejercicios militares cerca de Taiwan. Actualmente no hay alarma de invasión en Los Ángeles o Baja California. Calificamos la publicación como Fals

"They are literally chopping off the private parts of young kids. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, in part, for signing a pledge against the criminalization of gender-affirming health care. Although Florida has not enacted any law prohibiting transgender medical treatment for children, DeSantis cited Warren's pledge not to prosecute doctors who offer these services as evidence of his neglect of duty. DeSantis has mocked the term "gender-affirming care," which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says can include medical, surgical and mental health services for transgender and nonbinary people. "When you have the 2021 letter saying … no matter what a state declares about protecting child welfare with respect, I mean, you know, they use these euphemisms," DeSantis said at an Aug. 4 press briefing announcing the suspension. "But what it is, is they're literally chopping off the private parts of young kids, and that's wrong." This isn't the first time DeSantis suggested that "young kids" in the U.S. receive transition-related surgeries. DeSantis criticized these procedures in an Aug. 3 conference: "They want to castrate these young boys, that's wrong. We stood up and said, from the health and children's well-being perspective, you don't disfigure 10, 12, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria." We found no examples of doctors "literally chopping off the private parts of young kids," as DeSantis said. "That is not true under any existing medical guidelines," said Dr. Jack Turban, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. "No medical or surgical interventions are considered for prepubertal children." The governor's office sent PolitiFact two examples of people who received transition-related surgeries in their mid to late teenage years — one at 15 and one at 17. DeSantis' Florida Department of Health differentiates between children (under 10) and adolescents (10-18). In one case DeSantis provided, an individual from California received masculinizing chest surgery at 15. Under existing California law, an insurer cannot deny coverage for the surgery — which includes double mastectomies — based on a patient's age alone. The procedure is mostly offered to teenagers 15 and older, The New York Times reported. However, we found one report of a 14-year-old who obtained the procedure, and there isn't a consensus on a specific age requirement among medical guidelines. The other case involved Jazz Jennings, a transgender woman who stars in a reality television show on TLC. Jennings received genital reassignment surgery at 17. Genital reassignment surgery should be reserved for those 18 and older, according to guidelines for the medical care of transgender patients developed by the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 C.P. Hoffman, senior policy counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality, told PolitiFact that cases like Jennings are not common. "Even when a minor has parental support for their transition, transition-related surgeries are not typically performed prior to the age of 18," Hoffman said. "While there are some reports of transgender teens between the ages of 16 and 18 receiving transition-related surgical care, these cases are exceedingly rare and based on the specific medical needs of the teen." The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends what it terms a "gender-affirmative care model" for prepubescent children experiencing gender dysphoria — distress people may experience because of the discrepancy between their gender identity and the sex assigned to them at birth. Gender-affirmative care is oriented toward understanding and appreciating a child's gender identity rather than providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery. "Before any physical interventions are considered for adolescents, extensive exploration of psychological, family and social issues should be undertaken," the WPATH guideline reads. The beginning of puberty, which generally occurs between the ages of 10 and 12, is a baseline for medical intervention. The Endocrine Society recommends against puberty blockers, which suppress the release of testosterone and estrogen during puberty, for prepubescent children. An adolescent can be prescribed the treatment at the onset of puberty. Hormone therapy can follow the use of puberty blockers, although it isn't typically considered for patients younger than 16 years old, according to the Endocrine Society. WPATH recommends that "moving from one stage to another should not occur until there has been adequate time for adolescents and their parents to assimilate fully the effects of earlier interventions." The association's criteria for initiating surgical treatment include "documentation of persistent gender dysphoria" and the "capacity to make a fully informed decision and to consent for treatment." Under Florida law, a health care practitioner cannot provide or arrange medical services for a minor without parental consent. And many health insurance providers, including Aetna and Anthem, require a patient seeking genital reassignment surgery to be 18 or older to qualify for coverage. Our ruling DeSantis said, "They are literally chopping off the private parts of young kids." DeSantis' office provided two examples of teenagers who received transition-related surgeries. The Florida Department of Health would define both cases as involving adolescents, and experts say the procedures are rare for minors and aren't typically recommended. There are no examples we could find, or the governor's office provided, of transition-related surgeries for people under the age of 14. Medical transitioning is not recommended for prepubescent children, as DeSantis suggested. We rate his claim Mostly False

Former President Donald Trump asked “for troops around the Capitol to make sure everyone is safe,” on Jan. 6, 2021, but was “turned down by the Democrats. The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has highlighted former President Donald Trump’s actions — and inaction — as rioters stormed the Capitol building that day. So far, sworn testimony by Trump administration officials has portrayed Trump as uninvolved and uninterested in keeping order. One Facebook post claims that the "mainstream media" is hiding the truth. "The item that the MSM keeps under wraps is the Trump memo to provide troops for a ‘peaceful’ protest on January 6th," said the Aug. 2 post. "So Trump asks for troops around the Capitol to make sure everyone is safe, but he gets turned down by the Democrats. So how does one cause an insurrection when they asked for troops for protection?" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from Facebook.) The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack plans to reconvene in September, but the hearings have already revealed plenty of information — none of which corroborates claims that former President Donald Trump requested thousands of National Guard troops be deployed to ensure peace on Jan 6. No record of Trump requesting troops for Jan. 6 A president has the authority to activate the D.C. National Guard. (National Guard troops from states and territories are under the command of governors, although a president can also call them into federal service.) There is no record of Trump authorizing thousands of National Guard troops for the U.S. Capitol before the attack and no evidence that Democrats denied such a request. Christopher Miller served as acting defense secretary on Jan. 6, 2021. In a recorded deposition shared by the House committee investigating the attack, Miller said that Trump never gave an order to have National Guard troops ready. To remove any doubt: Not only did Donald Trump fail to contact his Secretary of Defense on January 6th (as shown in our hearing), Trump also failed to give any order prior to January 6 to deploy the military to protect the Capitol.Here is Secretary Miller’s testimony— pic.twitter.com/joucnUHvBB— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) July 26, 2022 Miller told the House committee that he formally approved a request from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for "unarmed D.C. National Guard support" for planned demonstrations on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021. "We received no further request for different or additional support until the Capitol was breached," Miller said. Ryan McCarthy, who was the U.S. Army secretary on Jan. 6, has also said Bowser’s request was the only one his office received before the attack. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 27, 2022 in a post Video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene planted pipe bombs at Republican and Democratic party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. By Gabrielle Settles • October 31, 2022 Miller told Vanity Fair that a few days before Jan. 6, during a meeting on an unrelated topic, Trump asked him how many troops the Defense Department planned to have on Jan. 6. Miller said he told Trump the plan was to provide National Guard support as requested by the District of Columbia. In response, Trump reportedly said, "You’re going to need 10,000 people." Miller thought Trump was being "hyperbolic," Vanity Fair reported. Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone testified that he was unaware of Trump making any phone calls to the defense secretary, attorney general or homeland security secretary on Jan. 6. Former Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser, Gen. Keith Kellogg told committee investigators that he never heard Trump ask for the National Guard or a law enforcement response. When asked by the committee whether he would have known if troops were to be present or called up for a rally near the Capitol, Kellogg said: "Yeah, I would have." Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP) Democrats did not reject request for troops Trump, Fox News Host Sean Hannity and others have accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of thwarting the former president’s alleged effort to protect the Capitol. But she would not have had the power to do so. Members of Congress don’t have the authority to activate the D.C. National Guard, said Jane L. Campbell, president and CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, a nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization. "If the president calls the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol, no congressional official has the authority to decline its service," she said. Our ruling A Facebook post said Trump asked "for troops around the Capitol to make sure everyone was safe," on Jan. 6 but was "turned down by the Democrats." There’s no record that Trump requested or authorized a request that thousands of National Guard troops be deployed "around the Capitol" on Jan. 6. There’s also no evidence that Democrats turned down such a request. We rate this claim False. RELATED: What’s next for the Jan. 6 Committee? RELATED: No evidence Pelosi ‘rejected’ Trump’s authorization for ‘20,000 National Guard’ before Jan. 6 attack RELATED: No proof Trump requested 10,000 Guard troops for Jan. 6 or that Pelosi denied

Video shows Clark County poll worker acting illegally by asking people to place their ballots into a bag outside of a drop box Several social media users claimed wrongdoing following Washington state’s primary election on Aug. 2, when a video began circulating of a woman in Clark County collecting absentee ballots in a bag near a drop box. A copy of the video was shared on Facebook and shows a woman recording herself as she drives up to a drop box. The woman slows her vehicle when she reaches what appears to be an election worker wearing an orange safety vest and holding open a blue bag. The driver asks the worker why she is not allowing people to put their ballots in the drop box with the worker responding that it takes "25 minutes to gather all the ballots that are in there and we have to close it right at 8 o’clock." The worker goes on to say they’ve "always closed this box, we’ve always been here," and tells the woman she can place her ballot in the box instead, if she’d prefer. Text across the Facebook video reads, "here we go again," an apparent reference to other claims of impropriety involving election drop boxes following the 2020 election. Others on social media used the video to suggest it was further proof of illegal activity and election fraud. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The scene does not reveal election wrongdoing. Rather, it shows election officials making themselves available to legally collect as many ballots as possible from people waiting in a car line near poll closure time. "Unfortunately, this video is just another case of standard election best practices that have been taking place well before 2020 now being called into question as a result of rampant misinformation about voting by mail," said Kylee Zabel, a spokesperson for the National Vote at Home Institute, nonpartisan, nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C. Zabel used to serve as the communications director for the Washington Secretary of State’s Office. Clark County Election Supervisor Cathie Garber said officials began placing election administrators at drop boxes several years ago after previous elections led to long lines of people and traffic waiting to drop off their ballot, which caused long wait times and "safety and security issues" from crowded streets and sidewalks. In 2005, Washington allowed counties to implement a vote-by-mail system that lets residents mail in their ballots or drop them off at a collection box. Counties can also establish voting centers for people who still wish to vote in person. Vote-by-mail was eventually adopted statewide in 2011. Garber said an interpretation of Washington's Administrative Code allows election administrators to help voters at the drop boxes, including collecting their ballots to ensure that drop boxes are emptied by the voting deadline. Official administrators are clearly identifiable by the badge and vest they wear, she said. The code reads "any voter who is in line at 8:00 p.m. at a ballot deposit site must be allowed to deposit his or her ballot." It also says that county officials "must prevent overflow of each ballot drop box to allow a voter to deposit his or her ballot securely." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 23, 2022 in a post Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs “sent 6,000 wrong ballots to Republicans.” By Gabrielle Settles • October 28, 2022 "We must be able to identify voters who are in line at 8 p.m., and voters who arrive after," Garber said. "By giving voters the option of depositing their ballot with an election administrator the line moves much more quickly, enabling election administrators to identify the vehicle that is last in line at 8 p.m." Two election administrators are required to handle ballots at a drop box, and another person in the video, who was talking to the woman, was wearing a vest similar to the one the election worker wore. Although not seen in the video, Garber said there were three election observers for the Republican Party at the drop box during the interaction who were monitoring the ballot collection. "Whether voters deposit their ballot in a ballot drop box, or deliver it directly to an election administrator, all ballots are placed and secured in official ballot bags for delivery to the elections office," she said. "Certified election observers also have the ability to observe the delivery of official ballot bags to the elections office." Claims questioning the legitimacy surrounding ballot drop boxes are not new. Drop boxes have been used for about 20 years across the country and grew in popularity in 2020 as elections officials grappled with how to safely conduct elections during a pandemic. Ballot drop boxes generally have more security features than typical stand-alone mailboxes. Voters can leave their ballots in the drop boxes, which are directly collected by local election officials, rather than voting in person or sending ballots through the mail. Despite federal and state officials proclaiming the 2020 election was safe and secure, many politically conservative states have restricted or banned drop boxes in the name of election security. Amy Lin, a spokeswoman for the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, said the collection procedures seen in the video are allowed by the state law requiring county officials to prevent overflow. The law also says that ballots from drop boxes must be transported to a counting center in "secured transport containers," but doesn't specify the container type or how it’s secured. "Counties may use different receptacles, be they bags or bins/containers, to transport ballots," Lin said. Our ruling A video shared on Facebook implies that a filmed interaction between an election worker in Washington state and a woman attempting to drop off their ballot is evidence of voter fraud. Washington state implemented a statewide vote-by-mail system in 2011 after initially allowing it on a county-by-county basis in 2005, and a state law requires counties to prevent long lines from forming at drop boxes. It has been standard practice for the state to have two election administrators go to a drop box to begin collecting ballots ahead of the voting deadline. Physically collecting the ballots lets administrators whittle down the lines and monitor which voters are able to make it in on time. We rate this claim False. RELATED: All of our fact-checks about electio

Photo shows electric cars that were bought for civil servants in France and then abandoned because “it was too expensive to replace the batteries. A photo of dozens of cars parked snugly in a field is getting, shall we say, traffic on social media as users share this description of the image: "This is France. They bought electric cars for civil servants. But it was too expensive to replace the batteries. And THIS is the Green New Plan to save our country." A reverse image search of the photo turned up many unsourced blog posts, as well as fact-checks from when this picture was circulating online more than a year ago. The upshot: this photo was taken in China, not France, and it doesn’t show the former vehicles of French civil servants that were dumped because the car batteries died. A post sharing the image was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) In the photograph, Chinese license plates can be seen, as can a watermark in the image’s bottom right corner crediting a photographer who goes by the name Greg Abandoned. The photographer posted the picture on his Instagram account on June 19, 2021. He photographs abandoned things and places in China and elsewhere around the world, and a similar image to the one being shared on Facebook is the cover of his book, "Abandoned China," which he describes on his website as "an album of pictures and stories from abandoned locations, collected from over 3 years of exploring in China from 2018 to 2021." Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 17, 2022 in a video Video shows “California sets their own forest fires and claims them as climate change effects.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 20, 2022 Though his Instagram post doesn’t identify where the cars were photographed — "I don’t share locations, please respect that," the post says — news outlets have published similar pictures of the same kinds of of cars with the same buildings in the background in Hangzhou, China. In 2019, the South China Morning Post reported that "thousands of unused electric cars were seen parked alongside a river on the outskirts of Hangzhou" and that they belonged to an electric car rental company called Microcity. The company is among hundreds of car-sharing companies that have emerged in China in recent years, the Morning Post said, and several such startups have since shuttered. We found no evidence that the cars in the photo were abandoned because of the cost of replacing their batteries, as the Facebook post says. Microcity’s former brand manager, Lou Gaofeng, told Agence France-Presse in 2021 that the cars in the posted photo "belonged to Hangzhou Microcity." He said not all the Microcity electric cars parked in the region were defective. "Some of them had problems, some could still be used, others were old enough to be sold to another company and disassembled." We previously fact-checked a claim about a different photo that was described as showing a "boneyard" of electric cars abandoned in France because the cars’ batteries were too expensive to replace. They were vehicles that belonged to a French car-sharing service that also failed, and the cars were being resold or sold for parts. We rate claims that this photo shows electric cars abandoned by French civil servants because of dead batteries False.

“North Carolina is among some of the top states in the country for the number of ghost guns that are seized as crime guns. A federal prosecutor says North Carolina law enforcement authorities are among the leaders in confiscating homemade guns that are hard to track. Mike Easley Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, stood on a stage in Raleigh on July 12 with leaders of local law enforcement agencies and announced indictments of 27 people from in and around the Raleigh area on gun and drug charges. Together, authorities seized significant quantities of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, crack and more than two dozen firearms. One seized weapon was a so-called ghost gun. These firearms are hard to trace because they’re often made privately using 3-D printers or assembled from a kit. Easley said ghost guns are a growing problem in North Carolina, adding that the state is "among some of the top states in the country for the number of ghost guns that are seized as crime guns," he said. Is Easley right about North Carolina being among the leading states in ghost gun confiscations? When asked to verify the claim, Cari Boyce, a spokesperson for Easley’s office, pointed to an article that quoted the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. The U.S. Attorney’s Office based its comments on data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Boyce also referred PolitiFact NC to ATF. Although Easley’s comments reflect what federal agents have said, and North Carolina may have confiscated a high number of ghost guns in 2021, it’s difficult to know how these numbers stack up to other states. The federal government hasn’t disclosed a state-by-state comparison of ghost gun seizures, according to Erik Longnecker, a deputy chief in ATF’s public affairs division, and some departments aren’t regularly reporting such seizures. A growing concern President Joe Biden said in April that law enforcement agencies are finding more and more ghost guns at crime scenes and announced that the U.S. Department of Justice and the ATF would be cracking down on ghost gun makers and users involved in crimes. The Transportation Security Administration is on track to intercept a record number of guns this year, CNN reported, and there’s concern that advancements in technology will make the guns undetectable to metal detectors. About 20,000 suspected ghost guns across the country were confiscated and reported to ATF in 2021, Biden said, adding that last year’s numbers marked a tenfold increase since 2016. Featured Fact-check Senate Leadership Fund stated on October 11, 2022 in a political ad Cheri Beasley “backs tax hikes — even on families making under $75,000.” By Paul Specht • October 31, 2022 North Carolina seized more than 400 ghost guns last year, according to Corey Ray, a spokesperson for ATF in Charlotte. That figure represented a sevenfold increase over the previous year, although the 2020 figure may have been underreported. Ray said in an email that North Carolina is among the "top 10 states" for recoveries, but he wouldn’t be more specific. He also said a state-by-state comparison isn't available to the public. Ray declined to release a ranking, saying that such information was sensitive. He added that he himself hasn’t seen a complete list or a specific breakdown. Ray said Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia have reported some of the highest numbers of recoveries, and that North Carolina "has seen similar recoveries." But he also said tracking that information is difficult and that the quality of data varies widely among agencies across the country. As awareness and reporting increases, there will likely be more specific information available, Ray said, "but for now those are all the details that can be shared." He added that the ATF has struggled to pinpoint how many ghost guns are being seized in the field because privately made firearms are such a new phenomenon and some law enforcement agencies are still learning how to recognize and document them. "Many agencies may still be in an educational phase — what makes a ghost gun a ghost gun, how are they constructed, how do you report such a device when recovered at a crime scene?" Ray said in an email. So, although ATF says North Carolina is among the top states, as Easley claims, the agency still leaves us with an incomplete picture of how the state’s confiscation numbers compare with others. A PolitiFact North Carolina review of ghost gun confiscations mentioned in news articles found that the Tar Heel state’s 400 recoveries is likely lower than at least five other states. California collected at least 2,400 among Los Angeles (1,949), Oakland (275) and San Francisco (190). New York confiscated at least 500 among New York City (375), Buffalo (70) and Rochester (48). Pennsylvania seized at least 600 between Philadelphia (571) and Pittsburgh (50). In Illinois, Chicago alone captured 455. Maryland recovered at least 423 between Baltimore (352) and Montgomery County (71). The District of Columbia also has confiscated at least 400. Our ruling Easley Jr. said "North Carolina is among some of the top states in the country for ghost guns seized as crime guns." His office cited a claim by ATF, which said North Carolina is among the top states for ghost gun confiscations. But the agency hasn’t released a state-by-state breakdown. An ATF spokesperson also acknowledged that data is spotty because some law enforcement agencies aren’t reporting some ghost gun recoveries or are still learning how to document them. Easley’s statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, which is our definition of Mostly Tru

“Ted Cruz leaks new document obtained from Hunter’s laptop implicating Nancy Pelosi. A recent Facebook post promises a bombshell from the laptop of President Joe Biden’s son that’s big enough to blow up the House speaker. "Boom!" the Aug. 8 post says. "It’s over! Ted Cruz leaks new document obtained from Hunter’s laptop implicating Nancy Pelosi." This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post features a 20-minute video with two clips of the junior Republican senator from Texas, but in neither does he discuss Hunter Biden, his laptop, and Pelosi, a Democrat from California. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 The first shows Cruz at an Aug. 3 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing asking Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite why more people protesting outside of the homes of Supreme Court justices haven’t been prosecuted. In the second, Cruz is addressing attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas a couple of days later. There were no leaks as described in the Facebook post in his speech. Looking more broadly for reports of what the post claims, we discovered none, though we did find a USA Today fact-check that looked at a similar claim of Cruz revealing a deal between Pelosi and Biden. In this case, unrelated videos of Cruz were also used. We rate this post False.

"Urgente! China prepara un ataque nuclear desde el espacio! Nueva York en alerta roja! Un usuario en Facebook publicó un video alegando falsamente que China se prepara para lanzar un ataque nuclear desde el espacio. El video dice que China prepara el lanzamiento de un avión espacial robótico y reusable, X-37B, con capacidades nucleares el cual utilizan como satélite de guerra. "Urgente! China prepara un ataque nuclear desde el espacio! Nueva York en alarma roja!", dice la publicación del 7 de agosto. El post fue marcado como parte del esfuerzo de Facebook para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Facebook.) Una búsqueda sobre el lanzamiento clandestino del avión espacial nos llevó a varios artículos sobre un lanzamiento el 4 de agosto en el centro de satélites Jinquan, China. Según Reuters, la nave reutilizable fue lanzada con el propósito de probar tecnología espacial reutilizable para misiones futuras. El gobierno de China publicó un comunicado el 5 de agosto en el cual confirmaba el lanzamiento del avión espacial experimental que regresará a China luego de examinar la tecnología reusable en órbita. El comunicado también dice que la tecnología brinda soporte tecnológico para el uso "pacifico" del espacio. Un artículo de SpaceNews, dijo que el avión espacial pasará un periodo en órbita para luego aterrizar en China al finalizar su operación. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 20, 2022 in a post “Ukraine has a nuclear bomb primed in Mykolaiv.” By Luiz Romero • October 27, 2022 De acuerdo a la página web de Notify NYC, un sistema de notificación electrónica creado por la agencia de gestión de seguridad de la ciudad de Nueva York, no hay evidencia de que la ciudad se encuentre en alerta roja por un ataque nuclear. La agencia de gestión de seguridad pública de la ciudad de Nueva York lanzó un video el 11 de julio detallando que deben hacer los ciudadanos si hay un ataque nuclear. Un comunicado de prensa del gobierno de la ciudad de Nueva York dice que la posibilidad de que la ciudad sea atacada por armas nucleares es baja, pero busca incrementar la preparación ante la posibilidad. En una conferencia de prensa el alcalde Eric Adams dijo que el video se trataba de "preparación" y "toma los pasos necesarios después de lo que sucedió en Ucrania". Nuestra calificación Un usuario en Facebook alegó, "Urgente! China prepara un ataque nuclear desde el espacio! Nueva York en alarma roja!" Eso no es cierto. China no prepara un ataque nuclear desde el espacio sino que lanzó un avión espacial para probar su tecnología reusable. Actualmente la ciudad de Nueva York no se encuentra en alerta roja. Calificamos la publicación como Fals

Brittney Griner is really a man EDITOR’S NOTE: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, dial 988 to contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For those deaf and hard of hearing, TTY users should use their preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988. For tips on dealing with bullying, visit Stopbullying.gov. WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner has long heard speculation and insults about her body. When you’re a 6-foot-9 woman, people tend to notice you. These days, she likely has more important things on her mind than her appearance after being sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges in Russia, where she is waiting to see if President Joe Biden’s proposed prisoner swap comes to fruition. But that hasn’t stopped social media users from making baseless assertions that the Olympic champion and six-time WNBA All-Star is a man posing as a woman, some of them using photos allegedly of Griner to make the claim. Others have used an online meme template to create a false CNN screenshot saying that Russian officials wanted to perform a DNA test on Griner to determine in which prison she should be housed. These posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) There is no evidence that Russia has ordered her to undergo a DNA test. Newsweek fact-checkers pointed to a New York Times story that Griner was being held before her trial at a former orphanage used to house women. Nor is there evidence that Griner is a man, as social media users allege. Griner has posted photos of herself as a young girl on her Facebook page and has spoken multiple times about how she has overcome bullying because of her physical appearance. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 10, 2022 in a post “Premature babies are at a much higher risk of injury from immunizations than full-term babies.” By Andy Nguyen • October 13, 2022 Griner spoke about other people’s reaction to her body and why she decided to pose naked for ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue in 2015. "I'm sure people are going to have a lot of critical things to say [about these photos]. ‘Yo, she's a man!’ But hey, that's my body and I look the way I look. People are either going to accept me for who I am or they're not," Griner told ESPN. "I don't know what people think I'm hiding. I've heard, ‘Oh, she's not a female, she's a male.’ I've been told, ‘Oh, she's tucking stuff.’ They thought I was tucking. I mean, it's out there. Let me show that I embrace the flatness! I just want people to see somebody who embraces being naked, embraces everything about them being different." She also told ESPN that she was bullied as a child because of her size, her body and her deep voice. "I've always been flat-chested. I remember around sixth or seventh grade the ‘cool girls’ would reach out and touch my chest: ‘Yep, nothing.’ I felt like less than a person," she said. In a 2017 ESPN video, she described having suicidal thoughts and cutting her wrists because of the bullying. She has since covered those scars with tattoos, she said. She also described being kicked out of a woman’s restroom as an adult in China by another woman who thought she was a man, and said that’s even happened to her in the U.S. Griner also spoke out against bullying and her body image in an interview on the Mercury’s website in 2021. "I just remember feeling like a weirdo, feeling like an outcast," she said. Griner also wrote about those topics in her 2015 book, "In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court." Our ruling Social media users claim that Griner is really a man, but Griner has spoken often about the hurtful comments and bullying she has faced over the years, including often being mistaken for a male because of her physical appearance. We rate this claim Pants on Fir

“We have more oil and gas permits than ever before right now. While Republicans argue that the United States needs to do more drilling for oil and gas to deal with rising energy prices, Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, has a different perspective on the matter. During discussion of the transition to renewable energy in a recent primary debate, Barnes said: "This is not a light switch. This is turning the dial. And the fact is, we have more oil and gas permits than ever before right now. We need to focus on that transition to renewable energy." Let’s dial in on that third sentence. Do we really have more oil and gas permits than ever before? Federal agency confirms 2021 peak in number of approved but unused drilling permits on public land In response to a request for supporting information, the Barnes campaign shared a Yahoo News article from March reporting that oil and gas permitting in the United States has increased under President Joe Biden’s administration. The article relies upon a data dashboard of onshore oil and gas leasing and drilling under the Biden administration from the Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan conservation and advocacy organization focusing on the American West. The dashboard, originally published on March 8, 2022, was updated July 21. It mostly relies on data from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue and the department’s Bureau of Land Management, which is the agency responsible for approving oil and gas drilling permits on public land. Since Barnes said "permits" and not "leases," we will focus on the former. For context, oil and gas companies must obtain a lease for land they want to drill on before applying for a permit. Permits usually expire after two years, but the agency can grant extensions. We’ll start by noting the earliest available permit data tracked by the BLM is from 2010 — so that provides a very limited window for a most-ever claim like the one Barnes made. We’ll also look at the data in two ways — permits that are approved but unused, and all permits. According to the dashboard, as of March 2022, companies held nearly 9,000 approved, but unused, drilling permits. A Bureau of Land Management spokesperson confirmed this, saying that the number of such permits peaked at the end of fiscal year 2021 at 9,623. (The fiscal year ended Sept. 30.) That is the highest total in the last decade. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 25, 2022 in an Instagram post The documentary “2,000 Mules proves” Democrats “cheated on the 2020 elections.” By Jon Greenberg • October 28, 2022 According to the BLM, the total number of approved but unused drilling permits was at 7,091 at the end of fiscal year 2020. As of May 2022, that total was at 8,920 permits. But what about the total number of existing permits, not just those that are currently unused? An analysis of data from the BLM’s online database shows the number of existing permits has dramatically increased since calendar year 2016, as more permits have been issued and the expiration dates of already issued permits have been extended. Indeed, the number of existing permits also peaked in 2021 at 16,096. Meanwhile, there are 14,427 overall permits so far in 2022, a number that could increase as the year continues. Federal data shows decline in approved offshore drilling permits The above data only takes into account onshore oil and gas drilling – not any offshore operations, where oil and gas are extracted from below the Outer Continental Shelf. Offshore drilling is managed by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is responsible for leasing, and its Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which is responsible for permitting. An analysis of that data, which goes back to 1996, shows the number of approved permits for new wells peaked in 2006 at 381. The number of approved permits has steadily declined since then — likely a result of legislative pressure at the state and federal level to restrict offshore drilling due to environmental concerns. So, the offshore data would have only a small impact on the overall picture. And that picture is one where Barnes is right on the current number, and may well be right on the historic one. But the data is too limited for him to make such a sweeping claim. Our ruling During a debate, Barnes said "we have more oil and gas permits than ever before right now." The Bureau of Land Management confirmed that the number of approved but unused onshore drilling permits reached 9,623 at the end of fiscal year 2021, the highest it’s been in the past decade. The problem is there is no available earlier data, which would really be necessary to make such a sweeping claim. That puts an asterisk on what Barnes said, and means we’re nudging our rating down to Mostly True, which we define as: "The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information." window.gciAnalyticsUAID = 'PMJS-TEALIUM-COBRAND'; window.gciAnalyticsLoadEvents = false; window.gciAnalytics.view({ 'event-type': 'pageview', 'content-type': 'interactives', 'content-ssts-section': 'news', 'content-ssts-subsection': 'news:politics', 'content-ssts-topic': 'news:politics:politifactwisconsin', 'content-ssts-subtopic': ' news:politics:politifactwisconsin' });

Photo shows a “massive” crowd at a Trump rally in Wisconsin on Aug. 5, 2022 Days before the Wisconsin primary, former President Donald Trump made a stop in Waukesha to throw his support behind Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels. The winner of the competitive primary Aug. 9 between Michels and Rebecca Kleefisch will face off against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November. But recent social media posts used an outdated photo to tout the size of the crowd. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson tweeted on Aug. 6 a photo depicting an event with a large crowd of people wearing red hats and red shirts. In the now-deleted tweet, Johnson claimed, "Trump’s enthusiasm is bigger than in 2016 — this is from last night in Wisconsin. Massive. Just massive." An Aug. 6 Facebook post shared the same photo and claimed, "This is from last night in Wisconsin. MASSIVE!" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) This photo is not from Donald Trump's Aug. 5 rally in Waukesha, Wis. (Facebook) PolitiFact conducted a reverse image search of the photo and found Trump’s son, Eric Trump, shared it on Twitter in November 2020. At the time, he used the image of a large, apparently pro-Trump crowd to push the false claim that the presidential election was rigged. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 18, 2022 in a post Connecticut ballot initiative on early voting would "remove the requirement of a certified seal from certain ballots." By Andy Nguyen • October 27, 2022 Molly Beck, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, quote-tweeted Johnson’s now-deleted tweet and said the photo in question was not from the Aug. 5 rally. She also pointed to Eric Trump’s tweet as the source of the photo. The scene depicted in this older photo does not match photos shared by reporters who were on site at the Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally. Media photos show a smaller crowd and a different event layout. In the older photo, two large screens that read, "The best is yet to come!" can be seen. This was a slogan often used by Donald Trump during his 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, media photos from the recent rally show two screens displaying the event’s speakers, including Trump, as well as a large, blue sign that said, "Save America!" Additionally, photos from reporters show there were three bleachers of roughly the same size behind the stage at the event. But in the 2020 campaign photo, there is one large set of bleachers in the center and two smaller sets to the left and right. Our ruling Social media posts shared a photo from Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and claimed it was of an Aug. 5, 2022, rally in Wisconsin. The photo in question does not show the Aug. 5 rally and can be traced back to a November 2020 tweet from Eric Trump. It also conflicts with several photos taken by reporters on site at the Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally. We rate this claim Fals

There is documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes The social media claim sounds like a storyline straight out of the "Shark Week" television franchise. "Did you know they actually had documented bull sharks stuck in the Great Lakes?" said Forrest Galante, the speaker in a July 27 video on Instagram that has been liked more than 145,000 times. Galante made the comment on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in December 2019. The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) But the claim isn’t true. Experts told The Associated Press there’s no documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes. The myth also has been debunked by organizations such as the Shedd Aquarium (on Lake Michigan) and the Great Lakes Echo, produced by Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. "There have been no confirmed sightings or captures of bull sharks in the Great Lakes that I’m aware of," Jeff Tyson, the fishery management program manager at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, told the AP in a story published Aug. 5. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 12, 2022 in a Facebook post “Trump woken up from his bed by police.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 14, 2022 In the Instagram video, Galante — a biologist and television personality — also said, "Sharks swimming 1,000 miles from, you know, Louisiana up rivers and getting stuck in the Great Lakes." Sharks traveling from Louisiana would have to traverse the Mississippi River to reach the Great Lakes. But the Shedd Aquarium noted in a 2014 publication that although bull sharks "have been known to ascend the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico as far as St. Louis," locks and dams plus an electric barrier on the Illinois River "would make it next to impossible for even a bull shark to enter the Great Lakes." We rate the claim that bull sharks have been documented in the Great Lakes False.

The Senate Democrats’ reconciliation bill “will strip $300 billion from Medicare. As Senate Democrats race to pass what could be their final piece of major legislation before the midterm elections, critics have gone to the airwaves to blast the proposal as hurting older Americans who rely on Medicare. Here’s the narration of one ad, sponsored by a group called the American Prosperity Alliance: "Higher gas prices, higher grocery bills, everything today is costing too much. Now, Congress is considering a bill that will strip $300 billion dollars from Medicare, money older Americans rely on for their medicine, their treatments, their cures. We are all paying more today, but stripping $300 billion from Medicare? It’s simply too much. So call Congress and tell them to oppose (President Joe) Biden's reckless spending package." The ad misleadingly paints what is more accurately characterized as nearly $300 billion in savings for consumers and taxpayers. The American Prosperity Alliance has almost no online profile. Its website provides only a link to the ad, and no identifying information or even any pages beyond the homepage. When we asked a better-known group with a similar name, Americans for Prosperity, whether the American Prosperity Alliance was an affiliate, a spokesman, Bill Riggs, said, "This is NOT our ad and we are not affiliated with this group." The ad echoes a theme seen in other attacks on the Democratic-backed proposal, including one the Washington Post Fact Checker gave three Pinocchios out of four in June, meaning it contains "significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions." PolitiFact rated a similar ad False in July. The bill, which also includes major provisions on climate change and corporate taxation, appears to be on track to secure the support of all 50 Senate Democrats, which when combined with the vice president’s tie-breaking vote, would be enough to pass even if all Republicans vote against it. The bill would be taken up under a procedural status known as reconciliation that allows bills to pass with a simple majority rather than requiring a 60-vote supermajority to proceed to a final vote. The problem with the ad’s $300 billion claim is it frames the spending decline as hurting older Americans who are insured under Medicare. That’s not so. Rather, the $300 billion — technically, almost $288 billion, according to the latest Congressional Budget Office analysis — stems from a provision in the Democratic bill that would end the longstanding bar on Medicare from negotiating with drugmakers over the price of certain medicines. Not being able to negotiate prices has meant that Medicare — the pharmaceutical market’s biggest single buyer — could not leverage its weight to secure lower prices for taxpayers. Featured Fact-check Rick Scott stated on October 30, 2022 in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" “All Democrats in the Senate and House voted to cut $280 billion out of Medicare just two months ago.” By Louis Jacobson • October 31, 2022 The bill is projected to reduce federal spending by almost $300 billion, but that would reflect government savings and not benefit cuts; Medicare recipients would receive the same amount of medicines. "In reality, the bill's prescription drug savings would save the federal government nearly $300 billion through 2031 without cutting benefits," wrote the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that favors deficit reduction and has been skeptical of many of Biden’s legislative efforts, citing their cost. "Lowering Medicare costs is not the same as reducing benefits," the committee wrote. "Quite the opposite — many measures to reduce costs for the government would reduce costs for individuals as well." After combining the drug-cost savings with the bill’s other health care provisions, Medicare beneficiaries would see decreases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, including through a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket costs, the committee projected. "In addition to saving the government nearly $300 billion, the (bill) would save American families nearly $300 billion more," the committee has projected. Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, another group that seeks to keep deficits low, told PolitiFact he agrees that the ad’s portrayal of the bill is problematic. "Those are savings resulting mostly from the government negotiating prescription drug prices and limiting drug price increases to inflation," Ellis said. "So rather than taking money out of Medicare, it is reducing Medicare costs." Our ruling The American Prosperity Alliance said in an ad that the Senate Democrats’ reconciliation bill "will strip $300 billion dollars from Medicare." The federal government would see its outlays reduced by about $300 billion as a result of a Medicare drug-price negotiation provision. However, that reduction wouldn’t represent cuts to Medicare beneficiaries. Rather, by leveraging Medicare’s market power, the government would be able to pay less to provide the same medicines. We rate the statement Fals

“Biden wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits. Reports of a new proposal from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide an identification card for certain immigrants entering the U.S. illegally has prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers and social media users. President Joe Biden "wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits," conservative commentator Tomi Lahren said July 25 on Twitter. "Boy, I wonder if that could possibly lead to voter fraud." Biden wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits. Boy, I wonder if that could possibly lead to voter fraud…— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) July 25, 2022 Her comment was reshared in a Facebook post that was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) We looked into the proposed ID cards and found no evidence that these are intended for immigrants to access benefits or that they could lead to voter fraud. Lahren’s team did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment. ICE proposes new ID cards for some immigrants in the U.S. illegally A pilot program being developed by ICE would provide Secure Docket Cards as forms of ID to some immigrants entering the U.S. illegally after undergoing a national security background check, according to an ICE spokesperson. Immigrants seeking asylum or apprehended at U.S. borders are detained or released into the U.S. while they await for their cases to be processed. The Department of Homeland Security provides them with a notice to appear, a charging document that explains why the U.S. government seeks to deport them. This notice and other documents are provided on paper, which can be easily lost and is susceptible to damage, according to a statement from ICE. The card would give DHS and recipients access immigration information digitally. A July 1 report from the House Appropriations Committee said $10 million had been allocated for the Secure Docket program, aiming to make DHS more efficient. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 9, 2022 in a Facebook post “Donald Trump is back on Twitter,” thanks to Elon Musk. By Sara Swann • October 10, 2022 Will the ID cards provide benefits to immigrants? Although the program’s specifics are under development, according to an ICE statement, there is no evidence that the Secure Docket Card is being created to allow immigrants in the U.S. illegally to access benefits. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible for almost all federal benefits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Immigration Forum. Immigrants might be eligible for certain benefits, such as some health care and nutrition programs, if those benefits are deemed necessary to protect life or guarantee safety in dire situations. Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections Immigrants who are illegally in the U.S. cannot vote in federal elections. Under federal law, U.S. citizenship is required to participate in a national election. States can check databases to verify a voter’s citizenship status. Anyone who violates this law can be deported, fined or incarcerated. The number of cases of noncitizens voting in federal elections is "minuscule," Rutgers University professor Lorraine Minnite previously told PolitiFact. She said, in these cases, noncitizens are accidentally registered to vote when they go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia currently provide driver’s licenses to immigrants in the U.S. illegally, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. ICE said the secure card is not an official form of federal identification. A few municipalities across the nation have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections, such as for school board members or city council. Our ruling Lahren claimed that "Biden wants to give illegals ID cards so they can start collecting American benefits." ICE is developing a Secure Docket Card program, which would grant ID cards to people to track and access information related to their immigration case. There is no evidence that the cards are being created to provide immigrants with benefits or to facilitate voter fraud. Under federal laws, immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible for most federal benefits, and only U.S. citizens can vote in national elections. If noncitizens vote fraudulently, they can be fined, incarcerated and deported. We rate this claim Fals

Consuming “rice and beans, milk, cheese, butter and eggs” causes disease by age 30 Rice, beans, cheese, milk, butter, eggs. It sounds like a college student’s grocery list (give or take a case of beer). But according to a reel on Facebook, these staple ingredients are not your innocent pantry basics but rather a dangerous source of disease. The July 27 Facebook reel was initially shared on TikTok in December 2021 and features a 30-second vintage clip of Alfredo Bowman, known online as "Dr. Sebi." "When someone consumes rice and beans, milk, cheese, butter and eggs," Bowman says in the grainy clip, "by the time that person reaches the age of 30, there's already the manifestation of a disease. Why? The membranes, the mucus membrane has been compromised to the acid food we’ve been ingesting." According to Dr. Scott Kahan, director of the Washington.D.C.-based National Center for Weight and Wellness, "There is no reputable scientific evidence supporting this claim." The Facebook post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Physician-reviewed articles from WebMD report that rice, beans, and eggs are all healthy to eat regularly and are good fiber and protein sources. Milk and cheese both have calcium, vitamins and protein — important building blocks for the human body. But because of the saturated fat in dairy products, consuming them in moderation or substituting low-fat and low-sodium versions can help minimize the risks of heart disease. Even butter is fine to eat in moderation. Bowman, who died in 2016, was not a real medical doctor. He was a self-educated herbalist who invented his own line of supplements and promoted an "alkaline diet" that permits an extremely limited list of foods based on his belief that diseases were caused by a buildup of mucus and acidity in the body. The foods he listed are prohibited in his diet. The so-called healing properties of Bowman’s alkaline diet have been debunked numerous times, as has his claim that mucus is the cause of all diseases. Who was Dr. Sebi? Bowman was born in Ilanga, Honduras, in 1933. He received no formal education and was raised by his grandmother, who Bowman said inspired his natural healing methods. According to his website, he suffered from many ailments as a child, and after learning the "limitations of Western medicine," he turned to herbalists who instructed him to follow an "original African diet." Bowman went on to develop supplements he would call "Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food." According to an obituary in The Telegraph, one of Britain’s three major newspapers, Bowman’s products began to break into the American market in the 1980s. But in 1987, he was charged with practicing medicine without a license after claiming that his methods could cure AIDS, herpes, lupus, sickle cell anemia, and leukemia. Another 1993 lawsuit from New York state prevented him from making therapeutic claims about his products. His diet still attracted many celebrities, including Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC, Michael Jackson, and Nipsey Hussle. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 24, 2022 in a video McDonald's uses potatoes sprayed with a highly toxic pesticide called Monitor. By Andy Nguyen • October 28, 2022 He continued to promote his diet and supplements until 2016, when he died of pneumonia in Honduran police custody after being arrested in connection with money laundering. But his website, Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food, still sells a wide range of supplements, some costing more than $100, and books continue to be published about his methods. The science behind Dr. Sebi’s diet Bowman believed that the key to a healthy body all came down to one thing: pH. His website explains his beliefs: "Dr. Sebi recognized that disease is a symptom of the accumulation of mucus and excess acid in the body. He believed that there is in fact only ONE disease, caused by eating acidic foods." Because of this belief, Bowman recommends an "alkaline diet,"which prohibits "acidic" foods like meat, dairy, and most grains, and his own supplements, claiming that his method would return the body to its "natural alkaline state." First, Bowman’s mucus theory is flawed. "Almost all epithelia of the body can produce some form of mucus, usually to protect itself from an aggression like a virus or an irritant," said Dr. Benjamin Caballero, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. "Mucus would be a consequence, not the cause, of the disease." (Epithelia are thin tissues forming the outer layer of the body's surface and lining hollow structures such as the alimentary canal.) And there is no scientific evidence to support the effects of an alkaline diet. This is because food can’t substantially change bodily pH, said Caballero. "The rationale for the alkaline diet goes against all known facts about food, digestion, metabolism, acid-base physiology, renal function, and pathophysiology." The body regulates acid-base balance on its own. "Blood pH is one of the most tightly regulated variables in the body," Caballero said, maintaining a slightly alkaline pH of about 7.36 to 7.44. "We don’t tolerate large fluctuations, so our system prevents them with very strong controls," said Caballero. "Blood pH outside of the normal range usually means there is a disease process going on." Our kidneys and lungs work hard to keep blood pH within a narrow range. "By altering respiration rate, we can eliminate more CO2 and restore the acid-base equilibrium," Caballero said. "And the kidneys can produce urine with variable pH, getting rid of alkaline or acid molecules as needed." Digestion won’t allow wild pH swings, either, Caballero said; our stomachs contain very strong hydrochloric acid (pH ~ 2) essential for digesting large molecules in food. "By the time any food you eat reaches the stomach, its pH is determined by the stomach acidity, not by the original food’s pH," he said. And once the food has been digested into smaller molecules like amino acids, fats, and carbohydrates, "the original pH of foods is totally irrelevant." Moreover, "diseases caused by foods are surprisingly rare," said Caballero. Some people are born unable to digest certain foods, have food allergies, or require specific therapeutic diets. "But these restrictions are not because of the food itself but because of the disease." Bowman’s diet does promote plant-based eating and consuming fewer processed foods, which can benefit the body. However, Medical News Today warns that the diet’s prohibition of beans, lentils and meat can make it challenging for followers to consume the protein and vitamins their bodies need. Our ruling Bowman’s claim that rice and beans, milk, cheese, butter and eggs cause disease and his alkaline diet and theory of what causes illness are not supported by scientific evidence. We also found no evidence that the foods enumerated in the video, if eaten in moderation, regularly cause disease in young people. We rate this claim Pants On Fir

“Tim Michels pushed for years to raise (Wisconsin’s) gas tax. With just a few days until Wisconsin’s Aug. 9, 2022, primary, the top two Republican gubernatorial candidates are taking shots at each other to try and set themselves apart. Tim Michels, a multimillionaire who owns Michels Corp., one of the nation’s largest construction companies, and Rebecca Kleefisch, who served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Scott Walker, were virtually tied in the most recent Marquette Law School poll on the race, released June 22, 2022. Michels pulled a hair ahead of Kleefisch, with 27% and 26% backing, respectively, well within the margin of error. It’s no surprise, then, that in recent weeks the two have turned up the heat. On July 6, 2022, Kleefisch’s campaign released a TV ad criticizing Michels by name. In the ad, she fills up a minivan with gas and bemoans skyrocketing prices – blaming them on President Joe Biden and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers — then focuses on Michels. "Tim Michels pushed for years to raise our gas tax," she says. Around the same time, the campaign released another ad where Walker praises his former second-in-command and also claims that Michels "teamed up with … those lobbying for a gas tax increase." Michels’ campaign swiftly pushed back against the accusations. So what’s the real story? Let’s dig in. No evidence that Michels himself has advocated for gas tax increase When asked for evidence to back up her claim, Kleefisch’s campaign cited several connections between Michels and a gas tax increase, many from a June 27, 2022, piece from the conservative news outlet Wisconsin Right Now. "Tim Michels — because of his role in directly funding campaigns to increase the gas tax in other states, sitting as president of a board that supported a gas tax increase, and his company’s (the one he is vice president of and takes credit for their 8,000 jobs on the campaign trail) leadership in other associations that supported increases in the gas tax — supported raising the gas tax," campaign staff wrote in response. Breaking it down, though, that assessment skips a few steps. The connections the campaign cites are each a few steps removed from Michels himself, who has said publicly he does not support raising the gas tax. Chief among the connections cited are Michels’ ties to the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, the Construction Business Group and the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin. He served as WTBA’s board president from 2007 to 2008 and was previously a member of the TDA’s executive committee. Michels Corp is a TDA member, and a Michels Corp. staffer sits on the board of WTBA. Indeed, the groups have advocated for higher gas taxes. Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 18, 2022 in an Instagram post Kamala Harris said, “We have to acknowledge gas is high which is the opposite of low.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 18, 2022 Michels’ response: He doesn’t always agree with the advocacy efforts of the trade groups he and his company have belonged to. He does have a point there. Having served on boards of organizations that have sought to increase the gas tax isn’t the same as pushing for it himself — which is what the Kleefisch ad claims. In a way, it’s similar to how we treat votes on those megabills in Congress that cover hundreds upon hundreds of initiatives. Voting for the package does not signal support for every last line item in it — especially when there is evidence to the contrary. And, in this case, Michels has said repeatedly he does not back a gas tax increase. The Wisconsin Right Now piece also points out that Michels Corp. subsidiaries have donated to groups in other states that have favored raising gasoline taxes. Again, that’s a few steps removed from Michels himself. It’s worth noting that Michels has provided similar explanations for other actions by organizations he (or his company) was a member of that conflict with usual conservative positions, including a coalition that opposed the state’s right-to-work law and WTBA’s opposition of an anti-immigration bill. Kleefisch’s campaign staff seemed to have anticipated the explanation, writing in a response, "That’s a cop-out … Michels has not proven anything to show that he or his company contradicted any of the trade association positions at the time." It remains to be seen what Michels would do with the gas tax if elected governor. But right now, the burden is on Kleefisch’s camp to prove her claim that he personally pushed to increase it — and there’s no evidence of that. Our ruling Kleefisch claimed Michels "pushed for years" to increase Wisconsin’s gas tax. Michels does have ties to groups that have had that aim, and this isn’t the only time he’s tried to distance himself from what they’ve been involved in. Still, there’s no evidence that he was personally the one pushing. And he has explicitly stated the opposite on the campaign trail: That he will not increase the gas tax. A rating of Mostly False means the statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. 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The CDC has classified monkeypox as an airborne form of herpes that can lead to paralysis The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Aug. 4, but leading national and international health organizations haven't made sweeping changes to the way they classify the virus and illness, despite alarming claims made by an image circulating online. An image shared in a Facebook post on Aug. 3 suggested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization made major changes to their available monkeypox guidance and information. The screenshot (embedded below) purports to be from a BBC News article and features its logo. A headline reads, "What you need to know about monkeypox," and makes the following claims: CDC has now classified this disease as airborne and anybody within 15 ft can catch it This disease is now classified as a form of herpes The illness typically last 2-4 months. If you have symptoms avoid going outside Monkeypox can lead to being paralyzed The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from Facebook.) The BBC confirmed the image was not a real graphic and urged people to check the veracity of stories on the BBC News website. A search for the screenshot’s headline on the BBC News website turned up no matching results. On Aug. 2, BBC News published a story about monkeypox with the headline, "What is monkeypox and how do you catch it?" The article cites the World Health Organization and the UK Health Security Agency and doesn’t make any of the claims shared in the screenshot. In addition, reverse image searches for the purported screenshot on Google Image, TinEye, Bing and Yandex returned no matching results. Searches for the exact phrases shared in the image also returned no results, further demonstrating that the image is fake and was not shared by BBC News. What we know about monkeypox Amid the current outbreak, some monkeypox questions are still being researched. But available information contradicts the points made in the screenshot. Featured Fact-check Instagram posts stated on October 12, 2022 in an Instagram post Pfizer executive “admits” vaccine was never tested for preventing transmission. By Jeff Cercone • October 13, 2022 First, monkeypox does not spread through the air. It is a rare disease caused by infection of the monkeypox virus, according to the CDC. It spreads from person to person "through close contact with someone who has a monkeypox rash, including through face-to-face, skin-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-skin contact," the WHO reported. This includes sexual contact. Monkeypox can spread through direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs or bodily fluids from someone infected with the virus; touching objects, fabrics and surfaces that someone with monkeypox has used; and contact with respiratory secretions, according to the CDC. Someone who is pregnant can spread the virus to the fetus through the placenta, and people can also get monkeypox from infected animals. There’s no evidence the CDC classifies monkeypox as airborne or has said it can spread to people who are 15 feet away from someone who is infected. "Airborne transmission occurs when small virus particles become suspended in the air and can stay there for periods of time," the CDC said. "These particles can spread on air currents, or sometimes even infect people who enter a room after the infected person has left. In contrast, monkeypox may be found in droplets like saliva or respiratory secretions that drop out of the air quickly." Airborne transmission of monkeypox has not been reported, the CDC said in June. This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (orange) found within an infected cell (brown), cultured in the laboratory. (NIAID via AP) Second, and contrary to the content in the fake image, monkeypox is not a form of herpes. The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus, which is a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus, the WHO reported. Genital herpes, meanwhile, is a sexually transmitted disease caused by two types of viruses: herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 2, according to the CDC. Monkeypox is "not considered a sexually transmitted infection," according to the CDC’s monkeypox FAQ page. The WHO says that "while close physical contact is a well-known risk factor for transmission, it is unclear at this time if monkeypox can be transmitted specifically through sexual transmission routes. Studies are needed to better understand this risk." Third, monkeypox does not typically last two to four months. The WHO and CDC report that symptoms typically last about two to four weeks. Finally, the WHO does not list paralysis as one of the main complications of severe monkeypox cases. Some severe cases of infection can lead to medical complications including secondary infections, pneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis, confusion and infection of the cornea, which can cause vision loss, the WHO reported. Historically, between 1% and 10% of people with monkeypox have died. Monkeypox can also cause encephalitis, or the inflammation of the brain, which can sometimes cause severe symptoms, including seizures, memory problems, personality changes, paralysis and hearing or vision problems, according to Mayo Clinic. Our ruling A fake BBC News screenshot claims the CDC has classified monkeypox as an airborne form of herpes that typically lasts two to four months and can lead to paralysis. The CDC and WHO haven’t changed how they classify monkeypox. The virus does not spread primarily through airborne transmission, is not a form of herpes, does not last two to four months and rarely leads to paralysis. Also, the image posted on Facebook is not a real graphic shared by BBC News. We rate this claim Fals

"AirPods are essentially microwaving your brain. Will playing your tunes on AirPods damage your brain? Experts say no, but unproven claims that Apple’s popular wireless earpieces AirPods are dangerous because they emit high levels of radiation close to your brain are cropping up on social media. "A lot of people ask me why I wear these headphones that have a cord instead of wearing AirPods," a man says in a video posted on Instagram Aug. 2. "The answer is quite simple, because AirPods are essentially microwaving your brain." "They emit extremely high levels of EMFs," he goes on to say. "These EMFs release radiation. And the last place you want to release radiation is in your brain. That’s essentially what you’re doing by wearing AirPods." The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) To bolster his case, the video’s narrator cites a 2019 article with a headline that reads, "​​More than 250 scientists warn EMF from wireless devices such as Apple's AirPods poses cancer risk." That article refers to a letter that a group of scientists sent to the heads of the United Nations and World Health Organization, expressing safety concerns about increased human exposure to electromagnetic fields from electronic and wireless devices. The letter was originally sent in 2015 and updated in 2019 to add signatories and change the names of addressees. Neither letter mentions Apple AirPods, which were introduced in 2016. We found no evidence that scientists have declared AirPods health hazards. We also found that AirPods emit levels of radiation far below government-established limits and far less than cellphones. The video’s "frightening claim is grossly inconsistent with views of health agencies," said Kenneth Foster, a professor emeritus of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, who said he has studied radiofrequency energy’s health effects since the early 1970s. What are EMFs? Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are a combination of electric and magnetic fields of energy, or radiation, which are produced by electricity, according to the National Cancer Institute. This radiation is categorized as high-frequency EMFs, or ionizing, which is produced by things like X-rays and gamma rays, and low-to-mid frequency EMFs, or nonionizing. Wireless devices such as Bluetooth devices, wireless headphones, laptops and cellphones emit nonionizing EMFs as radiofrequency radiation, or RFs. Is exposure to this radiation dangerous? Although prolonged exposure to ionizing EMFs could harm humans, low-level EMFs are thought to be harmless, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Services. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that "scientific consensus shows that nonionizing radiation is not a carcinogen and, at or below the radio frequency exposure limits set by the (Federal Communications Commission), nonionizing radiation has not been shown to cause any harm to people." Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 12, 2022 in a Facebook post “Trump woken up from his bed by police.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 14, 2022 "There have been arguments — and overheated statements by activists — for many years about possible hazards of cellphones," said Foster. "But health agencies have repeatedly reviewed the scientific literature and found no clear evidence for hazards from RF exposures from cellphones, and, by extension, Apple AirPods." The National Institute of Cancer said that cellphones have not been proven to cause cancer in humans and notes that there has not been an increase in brain or central nervous system cancers since cellphones entered wide use. The World Health Organization said on a webpage dated in 2016 that "based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields. However, some gaps in knowledge about biological effects exist and need further research." There is some evidence that radiation from cellphones can cause cancer in rats, according to studies published in 2018 by the National Toxicology Program. However, the animals in those studies were exposed to radiofrequency radiation over their whole bodies at much higher levels than the limits set for human exposure, so extrapolating risks for humans is difficult, it said. The American Cancer Society acknowledged that Bluetooth earpieces like AirPods emit radiofrequency radiation, and that "possible health effects from these devices cannot be ruled out completely at this time." Corded earphones, like the ones worn in the Instagram video, emit "virtually no RF waves," it said, and could be an alternative for people wishing to limit exposure to these rays, The society said it has no official position on whether radiofrequency radiation can cause cancer. Safety limits The Federal Communications Commission said that all wireless devices sold in the U.S. must meet guidelines on radiofrequency radiation exposure in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR), defined as a measure of the rate that RF energy is absorbed by the body. The allowable limit from wireless devices, it says, is 1.6 watts per kilogram, averaged over 1 gram of body tissue. The FCC stressed that there is no evidence of any health risks from wireless devices, but notes for concerned users that the small amount of RF energy released by wireless earpieces is much lower than from a cellphone, thus reducing total exposure to a person’s head. Apple did not return a request for comment, but told Reuters fact-checkers in 2021 that AirPods and AirPod Pros "meet all applicable radio frequency exposure guidelines and limits" and that they are "more than two times below applicable limits for radio frequency exposure." FCC reports of tests from the latest AirPod earbuds, left, and right, in 2021 support Apple’s assertion. Our ruling An Instagram video alleges that AirPods are "essentially microwaving your brain" by emitting high levels of electromagnetic radiation. But the electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, the devices release as radiofrequency radiation are far below limits set by the government and much less than the cellphones they are used with, experts say. Although some researchers have expressed safety concerns about long-term exposure, there is no scientific evidence to link the low-level EMFs emitted by cellphones — and, by extension, wireless earpieces like AirPods — to cancer or other health problems in humans. We rate this claim Fals

“In no way, shape, or form is access to contraception limited or at risk of being limited. Republicans who oppose abortion have new talking points — birth control will remain easily available following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the federal right to abortion, and when Democrats say otherwise, they are just trying to scare voters. Variations on this claim were made by a series of Republicans on the House floor July 21, during debate on a bill that would add a right to contraception to federal law. Democrats advanced the bill as a way to ensure birth control’s availability before some abortion opponents can see whether the Supreme Court will overturn that right, too. "This bill is completely unnecessary," said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. "In no way, shape, or form is access to contraception limited or at risk of being limited. The liberal majority is clearly trying to stoke fears and mislead the American people, once again, because in their minds stoking fear is clearly the only way that they can win." We reached out to Cammack’s office to inquire about the basis for this statement, but received no response. Similar claims were made in the Senate as it declined to take up the House bill on July 27. "This idea that we ought to spend scarce time here in the Congress, which we have in limited supply, reaffirming rights that already exist is a clear political narrative designed to divert the American people’s attention from things that really are at risk," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. However, a review of documents and efforts in some states to change laws indicates there is significant evidence that birth control — or at least some forms of it — may be at risk legally. So, we dug in. At the Supreme Court The cornerstone for this concern can be found in Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade’s guarantee of access to abortion. Thomas suggested that having found no constitutional right to abortion, the court should next "reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold." That is a reference to Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 case that established a right for married couples to use contraception (single people were granted that right in a separate case in 1972). In Griswold, the court found that the 14th Amendment’s due process clause protects the right to privacy. Thomas represents only one vote on the court, and the number of his fellow justices who share his opinion that the birth control case should be reversed is unclear. But the Supreme Court has already allowed some employers to decline to offer their workers contraceptive coverage based on their opposition to abortion. Featured Fact-check Rebekah Jones stated on October 26, 2022 in a post on Instagram Document shows Rebekah Jones “demonstrated” a violation of Florida’s Whistleblower Act. By Sara Swann • November 1, 2022 At issue in the 2014 Hobby Lobby case, for example, was the religious belief of the craft store chain’s owners that some forms of contraception — including the "morning-after" pill and two types of intrauterine devices — could produce early abortions by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg. The court decided the government could not force the contraceptive coverage requirement from the Affordable Care Act on employers with those beliefs. Scientific evidence suggests that neither the morning-after pill (which is a higher dose of a hormone used in regular birth control pills) nor IUDs stop the implantation of a fertilized egg and therefore do not cause abortions. Still, the court ruled that the owners’ religious beliefs trumped the government’s interest in workers getting contraceptive coverage. "That legal blurring of distinct scientific boundaries between abortion and birth control threatens contraceptive access in the United States," wrote professors Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Kevin Wallsten in The Washington Post. They predicted that some states "will probably ban some forms of contraception outright, using the discredited idea that contraceptives act as abortifacients." State action Confusion about how some forms of contraception work has led to efforts in several states to ban certain types of birth control. The most frequently targeted form of birth control is the morning-after pill, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within a few days of unprotected sex but which cannot interrupt an established pregnancy. It is not the same as the abortion pill, a regimen of two other medications that do end a pregnancy up to 10 weeks of gestation. And even if the birth control methods did prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus, that would not be an abortion, at least not according to the medical community. Although many religious groups and abortion opponents argue that human life begins when the egg is fertilized, there is a consensus among doctors, scientists, and legal experts that pregnancy begins at implantation. And, they point out, an abortion is the termination of a pregnancy. Roughly half of all fertilized eggs never implant. Even before Roe was overturned, lawmakers in Idaho called for hearings to ban emergency contraception, and Missouri lawmakers tried to bar Medicaid from paying for the morning-after pill and IUDs. Anti-abortion groups are pushing the idea. "Plan B is Capable of Causing an Early Abortion," said a fact sheet from Students for Life of America, referring to the name of a brand of the morning-after pill. Model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee would ban abortion from the moment of fertilization, not implantation. The bottom line, wrote professors VanSickle-Ward and Wallsten before the decision overturning Roe was even final, is that "the court doesn’t have to formally end legal protection for contraception use." "If it allows plaintiffs to call contraception abortion, and Dobbs ends legal protection for abortion, then contraception is at risk." Our ruling It is true that, so far, no state has banned forms of contraception. But the threat appears very real. And the absolute nature of Cammack’s statement — saying there’s "no way, shape, or form" that access to contraception is at risk — is not accurate. We rate the statement Fals

Una ballena se traga a dos mujeres en California Un usuario en Facebook publicó un video alegando que dos mujeres estaban montadas en un kayak antes de que una ballena se las tragara en una playa de California. "Ballena en playas de California se traga a dos mujeres y luego las deja ir", dice la publicación del 29 de julio. El post fue marcado como parte del esfuerzo de Facebook para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Facebook.) Aunque el video es real, la alegación de que la ballena se tragó a las mujeres es falsa. Una búsqueda inversa del video llevó a varios artículos sobre el incidente ocurrido el 2 de noviembre del 2020 en Avila Beach, California. Según CNN, la ballena causó que el kayak se volcara y las mujeres cayeran al agua cerca de la ballena pero no tuvieron contacto con ella. Featured Fact-check Viral image stated on October 29, 2022 in an Instagram post The Pelosis “are refusing to turn over surveillance video of their home.” By Ciara O'Rourke • October 31, 2022 Un artículo de FOX26 News, mostró otro ángulo del incidente en el cual se pueden ver a las mujeres sumergirse sin sufrir daño alguno. Nuestra calificación Un video publicado en Facebook alega que una ballena se tragó a dos mujeres en una playa de California. Eso no es cierto. Según fuentes legítimas, las mujeres se sumergieron al agua luego de que su kayak se volcara por el movimiento de la ballena. Ellas no fueron tragadas por la ballena. Calificamos la publicación como Fals

A Democratic bill negotiated between Sens. Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer would "increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket. Soon after Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York announced an agreement on a bill that offered a pared-down version of President Joe Biden’s remaining policy agenda, Republicans cast the legislation as a big tax hike. The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page pointed to a study by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation that found that "average tax rates will increase for nearly every income category in 2023 under the bill. This gives the lie to Democratic claims that no one earning under $400,000 will pay more taxes under the bill, a promise Mr. Biden also made in his campaign. The reality is that the Schumer-Manchin bill is a tax increase on nearly every American." GOP officeholders and candidates echoed this line of attack on the bill. Adam Laxalt, the Republican challenging Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., for a U.S. Senate seat, tweeted July 30 that the bill will "increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket." The latest reckless tax-and-spend proposal from Senate Democrats (mislabeled the “Inflation Reduction Act”) will increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket.It’s clear that a vote for @CortezMasto is a vote for more taxes and less money in your pocket.— Adam Paul Laxalt (@AdamLaxalt) July 30, 2022 Laxalt communications director Courtney Holland confirmed that the tweet was referring to the same Joint Committee on Taxation analysis. However, the committee’s analysis tells only part of the story because it looks at the burden of tax increases under the bill without looking at other elements of the legislation intended to negate the added tax burdens. What’s in the bill The bill Manchin and Schumer announced, which includes both new spending and new taxation, can pass the Senate with only Democratic votes in the evenly divided Senate because of a procedural status known as "reconciliation." The tax provisions are aimed at wealthy money managers and big companies. One of the two big tax elements would significantly scale back a tax code provision known as "carried interest," which lets money managers pay taxes on much of their income at capital-gains rates, which are lower than the regular rates for personal income. The other provision would make it harder for companies reporting at least $1 billion in profits to escape corporate income taxes. Such companies would have to pay at least 15% in such taxes, which many currently do not. On the spending side, the bill would offer a mix of programs to curb climate change. It is far more limited than the Green New Deal, a climate-change policy blueprint supported by progressive Democrats that never advanced in either chamber of Congress. The bill would also allow Medicare for the first time to negotiate prices with drugmakers and extend for three years certain subsidies to Americans who get their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The bill would also allocate additional funding to the Internal Revenue Service to improve tax compliance; this provision is expected to bring back to the Treasury an amount greater than the added spending. Here are some aspects of the bill that Laxalt and others didn’t mention. The taxation analysis looks at only part of the bill The critics have a point in saying that the Joint Committee on Taxation analysis found higher taxes, on average, in every income bracket. Overall, the federal tax burden for all Americans would rise by 1.4%. For those earning between $30,000 and $100,000, the increase would be less than 1%; for those earning less or more, the increase would exceed 1%. (An individual household’s tax burden may go up or down; the 1.4% figure is an average.) "I think it is fair to say this tax plan impacts these households," said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax specialist at the American Enterprise Institute. But there’s an important caveat: The joint committee looked only at the tax side of the bill, not at spending provisions that could cancel out those tax increases. Featured Fact-check Rick Scott stated on October 30, 2022 in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" “All Democrats in the Senate and House voted to cut $280 billion out of Medicare just two months ago.” By Louis Jacobson • October 31, 2022 The study "is informative but not comprehensive," wrote the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that favors deficit reduction and has been skeptical of many of Biden’s legislative efforts, citing their cost. "In particular, it’s important to note that the (bill) does not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 per year. It will indirectly affect those households in a number of ways, but even then, the net effect is likely to be to increase their real disposable income." For instance, the bill’s climate provisions would offer tax credits to people who buy electric vehicles and implement energy-efficiency improvements, and to companies that make renewable energy equipment. Of even greater importance to Americans on the lower end of the income spectrum are subsidies for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies would be extended for three years rather than ending by the close of this year. Also important for a broad range of Americans would be the drug-negotiation provision for Medicare, although the impact might take longer to land than for the other provisions. "Before relitigating the debate over President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on households making less than $400,000 a year, it’s worth keeping these missing pieces in mind," wrote William G. Gale and John Buhl for the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget concluded that the $64 billion in health insurance subsidies alone "would be more than enough" to erase the tax increases for people earning less than $400,000 under the Joint Commission on Taxation’s analysis. The group said the bill overall would provide a net tax cut starting in 2027, once higher tax compliance and lower drug costs begin to make a significant impact. The tax increases in the bill are not direct The bill’s effects on average taxpayers will not be felt in the same way as income and payroll taxes. Rather, the rise in tax burdens stems from the increase in corporate taxes. Corporations tend to pass the cost of these tax increases to regular people through lower returns for investors and lower wages for workers. The Tax Policy Center and other groups that study tax policy use mathematical models to project how changes in the tax code, including corporate taxes, would affect taxpayers of varying income levels. In the Tax Policy Center’s model, 80% of the corporate tax increase would be borne by corporate shareholders. The remaining 20% would be borne by workers through reduced wages. This is close to the breakdowns used by the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some households could be hit by both impacts. For instance, members of a household might see lower returns on the stock investments in their 401(k) retirement plans and lower wages. But because these effects don’t show up on a person’s tax returns or receipts for gasoline, some experts say it’s unfair to call them a "tax hike." Five former Treasury secretaries — Hank Paulson (who served under President George W. Bush), Robert Rubin and Larry Summers (who served under President Bill Clinton), and Tim Geithner and Jacob Lew (who served under President Barack Obama) — signed a statement in which they supported the bill and rejected the argument that its provisions represent a tax increase. "Taxes due or paid will not increase for any family making less than $400,000 a year," they wrote. "And the extra taxes levied on corporations do not reflect increases in the corporate tax rate, but rather the reclaiming of revenue lost to tax avoidance and provisions benefitting the most affluent." Our ruling Laxalt said the Democratic bill would "increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket." An analysis by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation did find that every income group would lose ground from the bill’s tax changes — approximately 1%. However, this analysis didn’t factor in the ways ordinary Americans would gain from the bill, including subsidies for energy efficiency and clean energy, the continuation of expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and lower drug prices because of Medicare negotiations. Independent experts expect these benefits to cancel out, or reverse, the bill’s tax impacts. Characterizing the bill as a blanket tax hike obscures how the prescribed taxes would be levied directly on very large corporations and high-earning money managers. The impact on ordinary Americans comes from difficult-to-measure secondary effects. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details, so we rate it Half Tru

Nancy Pelosi and Democrats "want to turn 150 million Americans into felons overnight" with HR 1808 Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden have hailed an assault-style weapons ban that the House of Representatives has advanced to the Senate as a way to address the epidemic of gun violence in America. But an Instagram post from the day before is framing the proposed legislation as a way to criminalize gun owners. The now-deleted July 28 post features a manipulated image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holding a crumpled copy of the U.S. Constitution. "Thanks to gun-grabbing radicals, Nancy Pelosi now holds the fate of your second amendment rights in the palm of her rotting hand," text that's superimposed over the image read. A caption that was with the original Instagram post claimed the assault weapons ban would "turn 150 million Americans into felons overnight." But the post is being hyperbolic. The proposed assault weapons ban would allow current gun owners to keep the semi-automatic weapons they already have, they just wouldn’t be able to buy new ones. Similar claims about gun owners potentially being turned into felons because of the proposed ban have been shared elsewhere on social media. The offices of Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and David Cicilline, D-R.I., confirmed that existing gun owners will not be penalized under the bill and would not become felons overnight, as implied in the Instagram post. Nadler is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which advanced the bill to the House floor; Cicilline sponsored the measure. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Instagram is owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, was proposed after a spate of mass shootings, including ones in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, that were perpetrated by men wielding AR-15-style rifles. It would make it illegal to manufacture, sell, transfer, import or possess semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. The U.S. previously passed an assault weapons ban in 1994, but it expired after 10 years. Although the bill passed the House with a 217-213 vote and near unanimous support from Democrats, it’s not expected to advance in the Senate, as it’s unlikely to get the 60 votes needed to overcome an expected Republican filibuster. If the measure passes the Senate, it would prohibit semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols that can use a detachable magazine and have at least one type of military feature, such as a pistol grip, folding or detachable stock or threaded barrel. Rifles and shotguns made specifically for sporting or hunting are not a part of the ban. Featured Fact-check Facebook posts stated on October 14, 2022 in an Instagram post Video footage showing Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hiding on Jan. 6, 2021, shows the U.S. Capitol attack “was a setup.” By Madison Czopek • October 17, 2022 Certain law enforcement efforts and authorized tests are exempted from the bill as are any actions related to securing nuclear materials. Also, retired law enforcement officers would be allowed to own semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Any semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines made after the bill takes effect would be required to display their manufacturing dates and serial numbers; no such requirement currently exists. People who lawfully own semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines would have their ownership grandfathered in, provided the guns are securely stored in a way that prevents them from being accessed by another person. If people sell or transfer grandfathered weapons, the bill would require them to check the backgrounds of the people receiving them. Also, someone who had high-capacity magazines could keep them, but wouldn’t be able to sell or transfer them. The bill would also allow funding for state and local governments to buy back semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines from people who own them. The Instagram post’s claim of 150 million Americans is also questionable. There is no national gun registry and federal law prohibits using the background check system to create one. So, the true number of gun owners in the country is unknown. Surveys may provide a rough estimate. Gallup found around 32% of adults it surveyed in 2020 said they own at least one gun. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 258.3 million adults 18 and older living in the United States. Thirty-two percent of them would be 82.6 million. A survey by Centiment in 2021 found results similar to Gallup’s. The company found that 31.9% of people surveyed reported owning a firearm and concluded that at least 81 million U.S. adults are gun owners — nowhere near the 150 million implied in the Instagram post. Our ruling An Instagram post claimed the proposed assault weapons bill being considered by Congress will turn 150 million gun owners into felons overnight. The bill includes a provision that would allow lawful owners of semi-automatic weapons to keep them, but not sell or transfer them. The bill would also prohibit them from buying additional semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Also, because no national gun registry exists, it’s unknown how many gun owners there are in the country. However, a recent survey estimated there are about 81 million Americans who are gun owners, not 150 million, as the post implies. We rate this claim Fals