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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Definition of ‘86’ at the Heart of Comey Indictment

Definition of ‘86’ at the Heart of Comey Indictment

A federal indictment against former FBI Director James Comey hinges on the meaning of “86.” The Department of Justice said it indicates a threat of physical harm, while the more common dictionary definition is to throw out or get rid of something.

Providing Context for Leavitt’s Examples of ‘Violent Rhetoric’

Providing Context for Leavitt’s Examples of ‘Violent Rhetoric’

Two days after an armed man tried to enter the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited rhetoric from Democrats that she said is “inspiring violence” against President Donald Trump and other Republicans. But several of the statements she quoted were stripped of their original context, a point that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made in a rebuttal.

What Do We Know About ‘Birth Tourism’?

What Do We Know About ‘Birth Tourism’?

Q: How real is birth tourism?

A: The government doesn’t provide estimates of the extent of so-called birth tourism — pregnant women coming to the U.S. on tourism visas in order to obtain birthright U.S. citizenship for their newborn child. One outside group has estimated it may be more than 20,000 births per year. Some argue it’s not common enough to justify upending longstanding birthright citizenship policies.

Trump Fumbles the Facts with Farmers

Trump Fumbles the Facts with Farmers

In a speech to what he called “the single largest gathering of American farmers that the White House has … ever had,” President Donald Trump distorted the facts on the estate tax, soybean exports and more.

FactChecking Trump’s Prime-Time Address on Iran

FactChecking Trump’s Prime-Time Address on Iran

A month after the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, President Donald Trump addressed the nation in a prime-time speech on April 1, saying the military operation was “getting very close” to completing its mission. Trump repeated some false and questionable claims we’ve written about before.

Trump Links Biden’s Ukraine Aid to Pentagon’s Iran War Funding Request

Trump Links Biden’s Ukraine Aid to Pentagon’s Iran War Funding Request

With the Pentagon potentially seeking a $200 billion supplemental package to fund the ongoing war with Iran, President Donald Trump defended that figure in part by saying U.S. ammunition “was taken down by giving so much to Ukraine.” He then exaggerated the amount of aid to Ukraine and falsely said that former President Joe Biden “didn’t rebuild anything” in the defense stockpile.

Flaws in Government Tool to ID Noncitizen Voters

Flaws in Government Tool to ID Noncitizen Voters

Republican Sen. Mike Lee said that he believes there are “at least tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands” of noncitizens illegally registered to vote in the U.S., adding that a federal tool used in nearly two dozen states would help identify the number. But the tool has wrongly flagged many as being noncitizens, and there’s no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting. 

Q&A on the SAVE America Act

Q&A on the SAVE America Act

On March 17, the Senate began debate on the SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed voter identification and registration bill that passed the House last month. Here, we answer several questions about the legislation, many of them asked by our readers.

How Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz Affects the U.S.

How Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz Affects the U.S.

President Donald Trump claimed that Iran essentially shutting down the Strait of Hormuz “doesn’t really affect” the United States the way it does “other countries.” It’s true that a small share of U.S. oil imports comes from the Persian Gulf. But the U.S. has been affected by the global increase in the price of oil.