On the day of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, the first National Guard members arrived to assist at about 5:40 p.m. By then, most of the violence had subsided. In the critical minutes before rioters had breached the Capitol building around 2 p.m., the chief of the U.S. Capitol […]
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Road to a Second Impeachment
In the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, the House Democrats on Jan. 11 introduced legislation to impeach President Donald Trump, charging him with “inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” The impeachment resolution, which is expected to be taken up on Jan. 13, accuses the president of repeatedly issuing “false […]
Viral Tweet Distorts Facts on Consequences of Impeachment
Quick Take A viral tweet that migrated to Facebook distorts the facts on the consequences of a potential, second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Impeachment alone would not strip Trump of his pension or bar him from pursuing office in the future, as the post falsely claims. Full Story The […]
Fake Letter Attributed to Pelosi Generates Anger Online
Quick Take A digitally manipulated, phony letter referring to a “Democratic Play book” and attributed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been circulating online, contributing to partisan rancor following the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Full Story A letter purported to be from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and […]
False Claims of Fraud in Georgia Runoffs
Quick Take Online posts falsely claim that there was fraud in the Senate runoff elections in Georgia, but the only evidence they offer are clips of election night newscasts that corrected two data-entry errors. Full Story Some of the same false claims that were aimed at undermining the Nov. 3 […]
FactChecking the Electoral College Debate
The process of certifying Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, after being disrupted by rioters and delayed by Republicans who repeated false and misleading claims about the election results. Six Republican senators and more than 100 GOP […]
Bogus Antifa Claims Follow Capitol Riot
Quick Take Viral social media posts and a Republican House member have amplified claims wrongly identifying some right-wing figures at the U.S. Capitol riot as part of “antifa.” The claims feed into an unfounded conspiracy theory that anti-fascist activists in disguise orchestrated the event. Full Story Following a pro-Trump mob […]
Trump’s Falsehood-Filled ‘Save America’ Rally
Prior to the violence that disrupted Congress’ counting of the electoral votes, President Donald Trump gave an indignant speech filled with falsehoods about the presidential election he lost two months ago to Democrat Joe Biden. “Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy,” Trump […]
FactChecking the Georgia Senate Runoffs
Two months after Election Day, control of the U.S. Senate in the 117th Congress comes down to two races in Georgia on Jan. 5. None of the four candidates on the ballot garnered 50% of the vote on Nov. 3, which forced separate runoffs. In one of the contests, Georgia’s […]
Our Most Popular Posts in 2020
As 2020 draws to an end, we present the 10 most popular stories on our website this year. Seven of the 10 were about the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19. Here is our list, in order: Hospital Payments and the COVID-19 Death Count In the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and […]