View this email in your browser ([link removed])
An update from FactCheck.org
Photo by Gage Skidmore


** College Diversity Idea Fails the Test
------------------------------------------------------------

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said he came up with a solution for how to diversify universities and colleges without making race a factor.

In a lengthy post on X last week, the Republican presidential candidate proposed “a pro-merit solution that rewards diverse talents” by adding a physical fitness test to the college admissions process. “It’s a fact that those who perform well on math & reading tests tend to perform more poorly on the 1-mile run, and vice versa,” he said.

Except, it's not a fact.

As Deputy Managing Editor Rob Farley explained, numerous studies show just the opposite -- including studies provided by Ramaswamy's own campaign.

And experts told Rob there is no evidence that adding a physical fitness component to college admissions would help to diversify a college’s student body, either racially or economically.

“All and all, Ramaswamy doesn’t appear to know what he is talking about relative to fitness and academic performance, and I am unaware of any data to back up his statement,” Charles Hillman, associate director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health at Northeastern University, told us via email.

For more, read Rob's article "Ramaswamy’s Flawed College Fitness Idea ([link removed]) ."
VERBATIM
“It is kind of hard to put into words how important that peaceful transfer of power is. Our country was founded as an experiment in self-government by the people, but it cannot long endure if the way we elect our leaders is threatened with force and violence. What happened that day didn’t honor our founders. It was the kind of thing they wrote the Constitution to prevent.” -- District Court Judge Timothy Kelly at the sentencing hearing for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. Read more ([link removed]) .
FEATURED FACT
Twenty-four states released nearly 38,000 inmates early due to the pandemic, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on federal and state prisons from Feb. 29, 2020, through Feb. 28, 2021. California, the most populous state, had the largest number of expedited releases (11,584), followed by Iowa (4,700), New Jersey (3,732), North Carolina (3,500) and New York (2,106). BJS, which was established in 1979, is a bureau of the Department of Justice. Read More ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
Every few months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases a new version of its "State of Vaccine Confidence Insight Reports ([link removed]) ." The reports, the CDC says, "seek to identify emerging issues of misinformation, disinformation, and places where intervention efforts can positively increase vaccine confidence across the United States."

The latest report released Aug. 28 ([link removed]) cites FactCheck.org’s story analyzing a meta-analysis review by Cochrane Library. The report says:

The reporting period included renewed debate about the effectiveness of mask wearing in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 following the publication of a meta-analysis review by Cochrane Library. Initial editorial commentary ([link removed]) of the Cochrane review coupled with inaccurate statements from one of its lead authors ([link removed]) resulted in confusion among the public and led many to assert that masks don’t work, a claim which is not supported ([link removed]) by the review itself. Cochrane Library subsequently released a statement in an effort to reduce the widespread misinterpretation of these findings ([link removed]) .

The CDC report covered the first three months of this year. But the Cochrane review surfaced again earlier this month when Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked about it on CNN ([link removed]) -- triggering inaccurate social media posts that said, "CNN blindsides Fauci live on air with a study saying masks don’t work." For more about the mask study, read our article "What the Cochrane Review Says About Masks For COVID-19 — and What It Doesn’t ([link removed]) ."
REPLY ALL

Reader: I heard that Joe Biden illegally received $10 million from Ukraine as reported on Fox News. Is it true?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House oversight committee, and other Republicans have accused Joe Biden of accepting a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian businessman. The allegation is based on an old, unsubstantiated report in an FBI form that is used by special agents to record raw, unverified reporting from confidential human sources.

We covered this allegation in a story last month. In our story, we wrote:

Comer is referring to an FBI report made public on July 20 in which an FBI informant said that years ago, Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky told him he was “pushed to pay” bribes of $5 million each to Hunter and Joe Biden for what the informant understood was assurance that the Ukrainian prosecutor general at the time, Viktor Shokin, would be fired. The informant said Zlochevsky told him “he did not send any funds directly to the ‘Big Guy'” — which the informant believes was a reference to Joe Biden — and that it would take investigators “10 years to find the records” of the illicit payments to the Bidens.

The FBI agent who wrote the report also stated, “Regarding the seemingly open and unsolicited admissions by [Vadym] Pozharskyi [the Burisma corporate secretary] and Zlochevsky about the purpose for their retention of Hunter Biden, and the ‘forced’ payments Zlochevsky made to the Bidens, [the informant] explained it is very common for business men in post-Soviet countries to brag or show-off. Additionally, it is extremely common for businesses in Russia and Ukraine to make ‘bribe’ payments to various government officials.” The report states that the informant was “not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity of Zlochevsky’s aforementioned statements.”

Hunter Biden and Devon Archer, Hunter's business partner at the time, were on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas company. Archer told the oversight committee that he was not aware of any $5 million payments to either Hunter or Joe Biden.

For more, read "Republicans Oversell Archer’s Testimony About Hunter and Joe Biden ([link removed]) ."


** Wrapping Up
------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Video Clip Misrepresents Biden’s Meeting with Israeli President ([link removed]) ": President Joe Biden met with the Israeli president in July at the White House. A clip from that meeting is circulating online with the false suggestion that Biden was “falling asleep” during the meeting. The full video shows Biden was consulting notecards and wasn’t asleep.
* "TV Ad Twists Facts to Fit Narrative in Attack on Beshear in Kentucky Governor’s Race ([link removed]) ": A TV ad attacks Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to release more than 1,800 prisoners convicted of non-violent or non-sexual felonies. But the details of the case featured in the ad don’t fit the ad’s narrative.
* "The Problem with Greene’s Warning About ‘Communist Takeover’ of Judicial System ([link removed]) ": Responding to news that the former national leader of the Proud Boys was sentenced to 22 years for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene commented: "We are witnessing a communist takeover of our judicial system to target political enemies." But Enrique Tarrio was found guilty by a jury, and the judge who sentenced him was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "No se sostiene la afirmación viral de que los ‘confinamientos o cierres’ por el COVID-19 volverán este otoño ([link removed]) ": En EE. UU. se está produciendo un aumento de casos de COVID-19, por lo que sería prudente que la gente usara mascarillas al estar en público y tomara algunas precauciones adicionales. Pero el gobierno no está planeando implementar mandatos de mascarillas o “confinamientos”, a pesar de las afirmaciones del teórico de la conspiración Alex Jones.
* "No se ha demostrado que las vacunas contra el COVID-19 causen ‘turbo cáncer’ ([link removed]) ": Las personas con cáncer son especialmente vulnerables a sufrir enfermedades graves y a morir a causa del COVID-19. Las vacunas proporcionan la protección necesaria. No se ha demostrado que las vacunas contra el COVID-19 causen o aceleren el cáncer. Y un reciente estudio sobre un ratón que murió de linfoma tampoco “prueba” que las vacunas de Pfizer/BioNTech producen “turbo cáncer”, contrariamente a lo que se afirma en las redes sociales.

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

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
We'll show up in your inbox every Friday with this fact-focused rundown. But you can message us any day of the week with questions or comments: [email protected].
Copyright © 2023 FactCheck.org, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
FactCheck.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center
202 S. 36th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=ff9a7620f9&utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=ace97d973c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_09_06_04_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ace97d973c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D)
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=ff9a7620f9&utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=ace97d973c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_09_06_04_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ace97d973c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D)
.

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
FactCheck.org: A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania . 202 S 36th St. . Philadelphia, Pa 19104 . USA