This week, readers sent us comments about former FBI Director James Comey, who testified before the Senate intelligence committee about private conversations he had with President Donald Trump regarding the agency’s Russia investigation.
Trump’s Coal Spin
President Donald Trump touted the opening of a new coal mine in Pennsylvania as evidence that his administration is “putting the miners back to work.” But construction of the mine in question began before the 2016 election. And experts say it’s not evidence of a resurgence in coal mining.
John McCain Still a Republican
Q: Has Sen. John McCain “renounced any affiliation with the Republican Party”?
A: No. That claim was made in a fake news story published by a “satirical publication.”
No Obama Statue in the White House
Q: Did President Barack Obama commission a life-size bronze statue of himself to leave in the White House?
A: No. That fake news story was “intended for entertainment purposes only.”
The Comey Hearing
After former FBI Director James Comey testified about his private conversations with President Donald Trump regarding the agency’s Russia investigation, the president’s lawyer gave a brief statement that contained inaccurate and disputed claims.
Timeline of Russia Investigation
Key moments in the FBI probe of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election
Gore and Pruitt Debate Paris Targets
Former Vice President Al Gore and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt made competing claims about whether the U.S. could have changed its emissions targets under the Paris Agreement, instead of pulling out of the deal. Legal experts side with Gore, who claimed the targets could have been changed.
Fake Dig at ‘Dumb’ Scientists
Q: Did a potential nominee for “chief scientist” at the U.S. Department of Agriculture call scientists “dumb, regular people” who “think dinosaurs actually existed and the Earth is somehow getting warmer”?
A: No. That’s a bogus quote in a fake story by a “News/Satire” website.
Trump’s Tweets Twist Facts
In the wake of another terrorist attack in Britain, President Donald Trump fired off several tweets about the need for his court-blocked travel ban, contradicting statements from members of his own administration and distorting the facts in the process.
Scott Pruitt and Coal Jobs
The Environmental Protection Agency head said that the “coal sector” added 7,000 jobs in May and “almost 50,000 jobs” since the fourth quarter of last year. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an increase of just 400 coal mining jobs in May and 1,300 since December.