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** FactChecking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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As SciCheck Editor Jessica McDonald writes: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is no stranger to FactCheck.org. He is a prominent anti-vaccine advocate who has been on our radar for years, primarily as the founder of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that spreads anti-vaccine misinformation."

With that opening paragraph, we kicked off a three-part series on the false and misleading health and science claims by Kennedy -- a son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy -- who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In our first article, Jessie addresses several of Kennedy's key talking points about vaccines in general. (See "FactChecking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ([link removed]) ")

In a second article, Staff Writer Kate Yandell goes deep into some of his go-to arguments about vaccines and autism. (See "What RFK Jr. Gets Wrong About Autism ([link removed]) .")

Today, we will post the third and final article. In that article, Staff Writer Catalina Jaramillo and Kate tackle Kennedy's numerous claims about the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which we’ve written about before and may be familiar to you already.

Jessie was the lead editor on all three pieces.

You can read the series from our SciCheck team by clicking on this link ([link removed]) . The series will be translated for our Spanish language readers. The first story is here ([link removed]) .
HOW WE KNOW
The latest federal indictment of former President Donald Trump references memos, emails and other documents without providing copies of the documents. We seek to use primary sources in our work whenever possible. For our stories ([link removed]) , we found most documents referenced in the indictment on an archived website ([link removed]) of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
FEATURED FACT
What impact have the indictments of President Donald Trump had on his chances of returning to the White House? His poll ([link removed]) numbers ([link removed]) in the Republican presidential primary have gone up since early April, when the first of three indictments (one state ([link removed]) and two ([link removed]) federal ([link removed]) ) were filed against him. He is also essentially tied with President Joe Biden in general election polling, according to ([link removed]) a Real Clear Politics average of polls.
WORTHY OF NOTE
Our parent organization, the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, released a new white paper that looks at misconceptions about vaccination during pregnancy.

The paper -- “Reducing susceptibilities to misconceptions about vaccination during pregnancy: RSV ([link removed]) ” -- is the second in a series jointly produced with Critica, a nonprofit that describes itself as an organization dedicated to helping people make "rational decisions about health and safety."

The latest report contains a new study that found people are more likely to recommend that a pregnant family member or friend get vaccinated to protect the infant from RSV if they are shown a chart explaining the process used by the Food and Drug Administration to approve vaccines. (The FDA hasn’t yet approved such a vaccine, but could do so this month.)

"Researchers found that 57% of those in a group exposed to a flowchart of the FDA vaccine approval process (see Appendix 1 ([link removed]) ) were very or somewhat likely to recommend the RSV vaccine to a pregnant family member or friend, compared with 40% of those in a control group not shown the chart," the APPC said in a press release ([link removed]) . "Those in a third group, informed about the risks of RSV, were also more likely (58%) to recommend the vaccine."

The chart used in the study was created by FactCheck.org Managing Editor Lori Robertson for her story "Q&A on RSV Vaccine Candidates for Older Adults ([link removed]) ."
REPLY ALL

Reader: Did the IRS collect taxes of $38M from 175 high-income taxpayers? Who are considered "high-income tax earners"? How much of the middle and upper middle class were audited and had to pay?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: You are referring to a press release ([link removed]) issued July 14 by the IRS that said, “In recent months, the IRS closed about 175 delinquent tax cases for millionaires, generating $38 million in recoveries.”

So, the high-income tax earners – in this case – are “millionaires.” The IRS does not provide a definition for the term in its press release, although it probably means taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $1 million or more. (In 2020 there were about 600,000 taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $1 million or more, according to ([link removed]) the IRS.)

The IRS release also doesn't say how many middle and upper-middle income taxpayers were audited. However, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University receives internal IRS management reports each month as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. In fiscal year 2022, TRAC found that there were about 626,000 total audits out of the 164.5 million individual tax returns. Taxpayers with total positive income of less than $200,000 make up the vast majority of taxpayers, and those taxpayers were the subject of most audits. TRAC provides a full breakdown of audits by income level ([link removed]) , providing the odds of the IRS conducting an audit for each income group.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Posts Share Fabricated Quote on ‘Permanent Climate Lockdowns’ ([link removed]) ": In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum proposed an initiative to reform economic and social systems, called the “Great Reset.” But a 2020 video of WEF’s Nicole Schwab discussing this initiative never showed her saying that “permanent climate lockdowns” were coming, contrary to claims in a widely shared article.
* "Trump’s First Amendment Defense ([link removed]) ": Former President Donald Trump and one of his attorneys have invoked a First Amendment defense in response to the federal indictment charging Trump with trying to “subvert the legitimate election results.” But legal experts note Trump’s speech isn’t constitutionally protected if he engaged in a criminal conspiracy, as the indictment alleges.
* "Trump’s Defense Lawyer Spins the Facts ([link removed]) ": John Lauro, one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers, went on five Sunday talk shows to present a counternarrative to a federal indictment that accuses Trump of engaging in a criminal conspiracy to remain in office despite losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
* "Trump Makes Unsubstantiated Claim About Fani Willis ([link removed]) ": There is no evidence that Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, had “an affair” with a “gang member” she was investigating, as former President Donald Trump claimed in a campaign speech.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Verificando a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ([link removed]) ": Robert F. Kennedy Jr., destacado activista antivacunas, se presenta a las elecciones presidenciales como demócrata. Nuestro equipo de SciCheck ha revisado sus más recientes entrevistas para identificar y corregir algunas de sus afirmaciones más comunes sobre salud en una serie de tres partes. En este primer artículo abordamos varios de sus argumentos sobre las vacunas.

Do you like FactCheck.Weekly? Share it with a friend! They can subscribe here ([link removed]) .
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