Does U.S. Treasury law make it unlawful for American businesses to refuse to take "legal tender" cash as payment for goods and services? No, that's not true: The Federal Reserve, which oversees the U.S. money supply, made it clear on its website that private businesses are free to follow their own policy about if to accept cash or demand payment…

Would a drop in the percent of positive tests for COVID-19 prove the U.S. has reached "herd immunity"? No, that's not true: The doctor overseeing the testing lab at the pandemic's ground zero says so-called 'positivity' data is not an indicator of herd immunity. Increasing numbers of COVID cases in Florida and Arizona at the time the claim was made…

Does a photo show Senator Elizabeth Warren at a nude pagan ritual? No, that's not true: The grainy black-and-white image of eight naked adults holding hands and dancing does not include the U.S. senator from Massachusetts. The claim was stolen from a now-deleted 2017 satirical article published by a website that trolls conservatives with the aim of fooling them into…

Does former Vice President Joe Biden propose a ban on fracking? No, that's not true: Biden's presidential campaign has said he does not support a ban on fracking by the oil and natural gas industry, although the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee does wants to ban all new oil and gas permits -- including those for new fracking -- on federal…

Has Joe Biden already chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate, but she is not eligible to be president since her parents were not American citizens at the time of her birth? No, that's not true. While Sen. Harris was reportedly on Biden's short, short list of potential Democratic vice presidential picks, his decision had not been announced as of…

Do flight logs show former President Bill Clinton visited Jeffrey Epstein's "pedo-island" but the media is ignoring it? No, that's not true. There are no flight logs that document Bill Clinton -- the only former U.S. president named the logs -- as landing at Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean island. Yes, an Epstein victim did tell this to Lead Stories editor-in-chief Alan…

Are face masks dangerous and deadly, and would a COVID-19 vaccine alter our DNA and be used implant microchips in everyone? No, that's not true. Face masks are proven to be safe, and since there is no current vaccine, it is not possible to conclude it could alter our DNA or be used for microchipping. Those claims are in a…

Was a popular Asian bistro in Atlanta closed down this morning after authorities found packaged rats and mice in the kitchen? No, that's not true: This is an old hoax that has been circulating since at least 2004 and is not true. The image used in the post was found online long before the purported restaurant bust. The claim reappeared…

Does a slowed-down video of the Beirut explosion show an incoming bomb or guided missile, proving it was an attack and not an accident? No, the video does not prove an attack. The blurry, slowed-down version of footage from the explosion was posted with the implication that an object in the sky is a projectile that caused the blast. Hany…

Does a missile show up on Beirut explosion footage that is converted to negative film? No, that's not true. Video that has gone viral that is claiming to show a missile hitting the area where the huge blast hit in the capital of Lebanon is a "crude fake," Hany Farid, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who focuses on…

Did Antifa protesters in Portland, Oregon, burn a cross on August 1, 2020? No, that's not true: A still frame taken from a video of a flag burning was photoshopped to look like a burning cross. This post (archived here) was published on Facebook on August 2, 2020, and captioned: Portland, OR. Look at ANTIFA burning crosses like how the…

Did Tom Hanks flee the United States to live in Greece where pedophilia is a "disability?" No, neither of those points is true. A persistent conspiracy theory about the A-list actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, has reappeared after the couple were given honorary citizenship in Greece, with the claim adding that they fled the U.S. to avoid implication in…

Were a long list of politicians indicted, sued, fired, or disgraced for sex offenses as documents relating to a defamation lawsuit against accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell were unsealed by a judge? No, that's not true: The list includes allegations reaching back nearly 100 years and none from 2020. None of the 87 people on the list are connection to…

Does this photo show former President Bill Clinton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and others at Rep. John Lewis' funeral on July 30, 2020, without face masks? No, that's not true: This is an old photo taken at the funeral for Jesse Jackson's mother, Helen Burns Jackson, in 2015. The claim originated in a post (archived here) where it…

Do animators sneak "A113" into the background of animated Disney/Pixar films as a symbol of adrenochrome, to "groom pedophilia"? No, that's not true: Animators who studied at the California Institute of the Arts draw "A113" onto license plates and other background items as an homage to their animation classroom: Room A113. There is no chemical notation in which A113 refers…

Is it true that "the" coronavirus vaccine will alter the DNA of people who receive it, making it a menace to humanity and making future generations not fully human? Or that nanoparticles are going to be injected into humans with "the" vaccine, comprising our privacy? No, none of this is true. For one thing, there is no publicly available vaccine…

Was former Vice President Joe Biden sitting alone on the floor of his Delaware basement in a photo included in a Trump campaign ad? No, that's not true: The photo, which was apparently intended to claim that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is hiding alone in his basement, has been doctored to remove 20 people from a photo of Biden,…

Did Black Lives Matter buy two new luxury buses with money donated to the movement? No, that's not true: The black luxury buses with "BLACK LIVES MATTER" written in large letters on the sides belong to the Toronto Raptors basketball team and were wrapped with a Black Lives Matter message for their trip to the "NBA bubble" in Orlando, Florida.…

Did Ruth Bader Ginsberg say the age of consent for sexual acts must be lowered to age 12 years old? No, that is not true. The Supreme Court justice did not ever say this. The claims have gone viral with fake quotes from Ginsberg. They were inaccurately attributed to a paper she co-authored in 1974 in which she was arguing…

Was DreamWorks Trolls World Tour Giggle 'n Sing Poppy Troll doll designed with a "private parts" button to groom young children for pedophiles? No, that's not true: The button on the rear bottom of the toy was designed to trigger giggling sounds whenever the doll is placed in a sitting position. There is no evidence, beyond the fears of some…