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** Misinformation About the Failed Border Bill
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The bipartisan border bill failed in the Senate this week -- a victim of partisan politics and misinformation.

As Deputy Managing Editor Robert Farley writes, the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act sought significant changes in border policy.

The compromise bill included money to build more border barriers, expand detention facilities, and hire more border patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration judges to reduce the years-long backlog in cases to determine asylum eligibility. It sought to expedite the asylum process and increase the standard of evidence needed to win asylum status.

It had the support of those typically aligned with Republicans, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wall Street Journal editorial board. The National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents about 18,000 border patrol agents, also endorsed the bill.

But even before a bipartisan group of senators unveiled the text of the bill, House Republican leaders and former President Donald Trump deemed it dead. Some of the criticism leveled by those Republicans was based on a distortion of what it would and would not do.

Rob writes that much of the controversy centered on a section of the bill that would have provided emergency authority to the administration to “summarily remove” people who cross into the U.S. illegally between ports of entry, even if they are seeking asylum.

While Trump argues that presidents already have that authority, the fact is that when he tried to exercise that kind of authority, the courts blocked him. Trump and other Republicans have also said the bill would have permitted up to 5,000 illegal entries per day, but that’s not accurate either.

For details, read Rob's story "Unraveling Misinformation About Bipartisan Immigration Bill ([link removed]) ."
HOW WE KNOW
In writing about federal court cases, we often use PACER -- Public Access to Court Electronic Records ([link removed]) -- to obtain federal court records. Staff Writer Saranac Hale Spencer used PACER, for example, to obtain a joint letter ([link removed]) submitted to a federal court in 2022 by the attorneys for Virginia Giuffre and Britain's Prince Andrew that informed the court of a settlement in Giuffre's civil suit against Andrew. PACER is operated by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Read more ([link removed]) .
FEATURED FACT
The transportation sector had the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. in 2021, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Most of these emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels in conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles. Light-duty trucks, such as SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans, were the largest contributors of the transportation sector’s emissions (37%), while passenger cars accounted for 23%. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
Our director, Eugene Kiely, was interviewed for a recent United Press International article on misinformation in an election year.

Eugene discussed our fact-checking process, the real-life consequences of misinformation and the distrust that some have with the media.

"All we're doing is presenting information," he said. "If somebody doesn't like what we're saying, what they're really taking issue with are the facts."

For more, read "Election year puts misinformation fight in high gear ([link removed]) ."
REPLY ALL

Reader: Could you fact-check this claim: Joe Biden claimed to have sat down with Mitterrand of France at the last G7 summit. Is this an accurate statement?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: In a Feb. 4 speech in Las Vegas, President Biden said he spoke to François Mitterrand at a G7 meeting not long after he was elected. Not only that, but Biden said Mitterrand, a former president of France, was from Germany. He corrected himself about Germany, but not about talking to Mitterrand – who died ([link removed]) in 1996.

The White House included the inaccurate statement about Mitterrand in the transcript of his remarks and corrected it to note that he meant to say the current president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

From the White House transcript ([link removed]) :

You know, right — right after I was elected, I went to what they call a G7 meeting, all the NATO leaders. And it was in — it was in the south of England. And I sat down and I said, “America is back.”

And [DEL: Mitterrand :DEL]
[Macron], from Germany — I mean, from France looked at me and said — said, “You know, what — why — how long you back for?” (Laughter.)

For the record, we don’t play “gotcha” here. It was clearly a slip up. He has told that story about Macron many ([link removed]) times ([link removed]) before ([link removed]) . We don’t write about inaccurate statements that are merely flubs.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Posts Misrepresent Mouse Study of Pangolin Virus ([link removed]) ": A study showed a type of lab mouse is highly susceptible to a coronavirus derived from pangolins, a scaly, cat-sized mammal. This doesn’t mean the virus is dangerous to humans. The virus is related to the one that causes COVID-19 but did not descend from it, contrary to claims that it is a “mutant COVID-19 strain.” Nor did scientists “craft” the virus.
* "Electric Vehicles Contribute Fewer Emissions Than Gasoline-Powered Cars Over Their Lifetimes ([link removed]) ": Ask SciCheck answers a reader's question: Are electric cars really better for the environment than gasoline-powered cars over their lifetimes?
* "Posts Sling Baseless Claims at Judge in Defamation Case Against Trump ([link removed]) ": Misinformation peddlers baselessly claim a judge who presided over the defamation case that ended with an $83 million verdict against former President Donald Trump is linked to sex trafficking, noting that the judge dismissed a case related to Jeffrey Epstein. But the Epstein-related case was settled by the parties, and the defamation verdict was rendered by a jury.
* "Biden Makes False Claim About Jan. 6 Capitol Attack ([link removed]) ": About 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to multiple reports. But no officers were “killed” that day, as President Joe Biden falsely claimed at a Jan. 31 campaign reception in Miami.
* "Online Posts Share Altered Photo of Taylor Swift With Bogus Political Sign ([link removed]) ": Taylor Swift has previously endorsed political candidates, including Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Online posts, however, share an altered photo of Swift that purports to show she endorses former President Donald Trump’s false claim that he won in 2020 and that Democrats “cheated” in the election.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Publicaciones inducen a error sobre el sarampión y la vacuna triple vírica en medio de los últimos brotes ([link removed]) ": El sarampión es una enfermedad muy contagiosa que puede ser grave e incluso mortal. Afortunadamente, puede prevenirse con seguridad mediante la vacunación. Pero a raíz de los brotes registrados en EE. UU. y otros países, probablemente en gran parte debido a los bajos niveles de vacunación, publicaciones en las redes sociales han restado importancia a los riesgos del sarampión y han afirmado falsamente que la vacuna “es más peligrosa que la enfermedad”.
* "Publicaciones virales hacen mal uso de un estudio en ratas para hacer afirmaciones infundadas sobre las vacunas contra el COVID-19 y el autismo ([link removed]) ": La vacunación contra el COVID-19 durante el embarazo beneficia tanto a la madre como al bebé. Los efectos secundarios suelen ser leves y los estudios no muestran efectos negativos en el bebé. Un criticado estudio en el que se administraron vacunas contra el COVID-19 a ratas embarazadas, no demuestra que las vacunas causen autismo ni que las personas no deban vacunarse contra el COVID-19, al contrario de lo que se afirma.

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