View this email in your browser ([link removed])
An update from FactCheck.org
Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images


** Russian Disinformation: Deny, Deny, Deny
------------------------------------------------------------

For months, Russian leaders insisted that their country had no plans to attack Ukraine -- despite the 100,000-plus Russian troops assembling on the Ukrainian border.

“Russia has never hatched, is not hatching and will never hatch any plans to attack anyone," Kremlim spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ([link removed]) on Nov. 28 of a plot to overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "Russia is a peaceful country, which is interested in good relations with its neighbors.”

In a Jan. 19 interview on CNN, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov repeated ([link removed]) the party line. "We will not attack, strike, invade, quote unquote, whatever Ukraine,” he said.

In our article "Russian Rhetoric Ahead of Attack Against Ukraine: Deny, Deflect, Mislead ([link removed]) ," we provide a timeline of Russian leaders denying the obvious -- until Feb. 24, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine.

“This is a terrible day for Ukraine and a dark day for Europe,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a Feb. 24 tweet ([link removed]) .
HOW WE KNOW
In writing about the law governing presidential records, FactCheck.org staffer Saranac Hale Spencer talked to a man who is uniquely qualified to explain the law: Jason R. Baron ([link removed]) , a former director of litigation at the National Archives and Record Administration. “A president has no legal right to tear up, shred, or otherwise dispose of copies of records that he creates or receives while in office (including his own notes or annotations on documents concerning official business),” Baron told ([link removed]) Sara.
FEATURED FACT
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated ([link removed]) that about 102 million, or 57.1%, of all tax units will have zero or negative federal income tax liability in 2021 -- typically because they earn too little or qualify for deductions and refundable tax credits that negate any income tax they would have owed. TPCdefines ([link removed]) a tax unit as “an individual, or a married couple, that files a tax return or would file a tax return if their income were high enough, along with all dependents of that individual or married couple.”
WORTHY OF NOTE
FactCheck.org reporter Catalina Jaramillo ([link removed]) this week participated in a panel discussion hosted by WHYY about Latinos in the media.

The event -- "Representation y Más: Latinos Creating and Changing Media ([link removed]) " -- included a screening of "Lights, Camera, Acción," a film about the Latinx representation in Hollywood.

Catalina has reported, written and produced stories for radio and news websites in the United States and Latin America. Prior to joining FactCheck.org, Catalina was a reporter for WHYY, a public radio station in Philadelphia.
REPLY ALL

Reader: Are COVID deaths exaggerated? Anti-vaccination groupies have told me that the United States has only had about 50,000 deaths from Covid-19 itself.

They assert that the rest of the nearly million deaths we've sustained have been due to what they call co-morbidities, deadly diseases that kill people and the government rates them as dying from Covid just because they also contracted Covid before death.

Would you clear this up for me because I'm trying to fact-check everything.

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: COVID-19 deaths are not exaggerated. This is a common deception advanced by some who -- for whatever reason -- want to downplay the seriousness of COVID-19.

We have written several articles about social media posts that misrepresented CDC data on COVID-19 deaths. As we wrote in September 2020 ([link removed]) , the CDC provides weekly updates that include information on additional conditions present in patients who died with COVID-19. The latest data ([link removed]) , as of Feb. 20, show COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned on 5% of death certificates, while the other 95% of deaths included other illnesses or conditions, or comorbidities.

That’s not unusual since COVID-19 often causes other serious conditions ([link removed]) , such as pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome — which rank among ([link removed]) the most-cited comorbidities for deaths involving COVID-19. Long-term conditions that increase the risk ([link removed]) for severe COVID-19, such as diabetes or hypertension, are also among the comorbidities listed on death certificates.

The CDC notes ([link removed]) , however, that 90% of all death certificates mentioning COVID-19 listed it as the underlying cause of death — or the condition that started the chain of events that led to a person’s death.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, addressed ([link removed]) this issue on ABC's "Good Morning America" in August 2020, when there were 180,000-plus COVID-19 deaths. At the time, some on social media had been misrepresenting the CDC data to falsely claim that only 6% of COVID-19 deaths were caused by COVID-19 because the rest of those who had died had comorbidities.

"The point that the CDC was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else but just COVID. That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19. They did,” Fauci said in the "Good Morning America" interview. “So the numbers you’ve been hearing — the 180,000-plus deaths — are real deaths from COVID-19. Let [there] not be any confusion about that."

There are currently more than 930,000 ([link removed]) COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.


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

Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Former Presidents Are Not Allowed to Take Home Official Records ([link removed]) ": The National Archives recovered 15 boxes of materials from former President Donald Trump’s time in office. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, claimed that the law allowed Trump to “take documents when he left the White House.” But a former president isn’t allowed to take possession of official records, which Trump has said these are.
* "Rick Scott Proposed ‘All Americans’ Should Pay Income Tax, Then Denied That He Did ([link removed]) ": A multipart policy plan released by Sen. Rick Scott on Feb. 22 says “all Americans” should have to pay “income tax,” while saying that “over half of Americans” currently do not. But in an interview later that day, after criticism from congressional Democrats, the Florida senator falsely claimed that he had not suggested increasing federal income taxes for that many people.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Vacuna de refuerzo contra el COVID-19 mejora la protección, contrario a las afirmaciones sobre el ‘agotamiento inmunitario’ ([link removed]) ": Una dosis de refuerzo de la vacuna contra el COVID-19 aumenta la protección contra el coronavirus. Pero en una entrevista, el comediante Bill Maher dijo incorrectamente que las dosis de refuerzo “no servían para nada” y podían causar el “agotamiento del sistema inmunitario”. Otros han hecho afirmaciones similares en internet. La idea de que el sistema inmunitario se agotaría no tiene ningún fundamento, incluso después de repetidas dosis de refuerzo.
* "Mensajes sobre ‘reactivos cruzados’ tergiversan la fiabilidad de las pruebas PCR para diagnosticar COVID-19 ([link removed]) ": Las PCR, o pruebas de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa para detectar el COVID-19, son muy precisas. Sin embargo, usuarios en las redes sociales están compartiendo listas de gérmenes que harán, según dicen infundadamente, que las pruebas arrojen falsos positivos. En realidad, es todo lo contrario. La lista incluye patógenos que han sido probados por los fabricantes y que no alteran los resultados de las pruebas.

Have a question about COVID-19 and the vaccines? Visit our SciCheck page ([link removed]) for answers. It's available in Spanish ([link removed]) , too.
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 © 2022 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=9efe73cc9d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_02_21_06_56&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3294bba774-9efe73cc9d-48392213)
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=ff9a7620f9&utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=9efe73cc9d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_02_21_06_56&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3294bba774-9efe73cc9d-48392213)
.

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