Crime & justice fact checks

"Democrat Bill Clinton, paid Paula Jones $850,000 in hush money... Why wasn't Clinton arrested?"

Publisher’s rating: Not equivalent to Trump payment

Says U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., “says pedophilia isn’t a crime — it’s an identity.”

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

"As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself."

Publisher’s rating: No consensus, experts say

A scarecrow discovered on a Texas ranch was actually a human skeleton.

Publisher’s rating: False

The Odessa shooter "had a Beto sticker on his truck."

Publisher’s rating: False

Photo shows the Instagram account of shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, with the bio, “In my quest to end Epsteins evil empire.”

Publisher’s rating: False

“Car thefts (are) increasing in 8 of the 10 most populous (Wisconsin) counties.”

Publisher’s rating: Mostly True

“Hunter Biden has been arrested!”

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

Gwinnett County, Georgia, sheriff's office said white supremacists “are planning to attack” Black people “from now until the Inauguration.”

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”

Publisher’s rating: Four Pinocchios

Related reporting connects the claim to the June 2020 Buffalo incident involving Martin Gugino. One account says that, during enforcement of a city curfew after George Floyd’s killing, a Buffalo officer shoved Gugino to the ground; it describes phone video showing his head hit the pavement and says his lawyer reported a brain injury. It then quotes Trump’s suggestion that Gugino “could be an ANTIFA provocateur” and his allegations that Gugino was scanning police communications and “fell harder than was pushed.” The supplied excerpts do not document an examination of the video, scanner equipment, or police communications, nor do they establish that Gugino was trying to interfere with equipment or stage an incident. A separate account describes Gugino as a peaceful Catholic Worker protester and says Trump promoted an OANN story after the video drew attention. Taken together, these excerpts establish the event and the statement at issue, but they do not provide evidence supporting the alleged motive or setup.

Says photo of beaten woman is Aracely Henriquez, a pregnant woman who George Floyd assaulted during an armed robbery.

Publisher’s rating: False

“There is a place in the U.S. where murder is legal.”

Publisher’s rating: False

Security cameras at Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home malfunctioned “for the duration of the break-in, so officials have ended their investigation.”

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

“Finnish Court rules sex with children is permitted.”

Publisher’s rating: False

A man who sodomized a 6-year-old "was arrested and thrown behind bars where he belongs. Until [Kentucky Gov.] Andy Beshear turned him loose. Released back into the community within a year."

Publisher’s rating: False

"Every single Democratic member of the United States Senate is now on record supporting abolishing the police."

Publisher’s rating: False

A New York Law Journal opinion piece is evidence the civil fraud case against Donald Trump is "a Democratic inspired HOAX."

Publisher’s rating: Lacks Context

"The last administration oversaw the largest increase in murders ever recorded."

Publisher’s rating: Half True

A man’s injuries from falling after police officers shoved him in Buffalo, N.Y. were staged.

Publisher’s rating: False

تولید مواد مخدر در افغانستان، در دو دهه گذشته با حضور اشغال‌گران خارجی ۵۰ برابر رشد داشته است.

Publisher’s rating: گمراه‌کننده