FactCheck.org's Weekly Update

Multiple social media posts are spreading a bogus conspiracy theory about the deadly Wuhan virus. The posts falsely claim that the virus has been patented and a vaccine is already available. That’s not true; the patents the posts refer to pertain to different viruses.

President Donald Trump, who last year froze hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine, claimed “they got all” of it “long before schedule.” That’s false. Congress had to grant an extension to ensure the government could spend all of that aid for Ukraine.

Sen. Bernie Sanders says former Vice President Joe Biden has a long history of supporting cuts to Social Security. Biden says the opposite is true. We sort through some of the competing claims.

White House lawyers distorted the facts on the impeachment process and other issues during the Jan. 21 Senate trial.

Rep. Nadler went too far when he claimed that President Trump “worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election.” The special counsel investigation identified “multiple contacts” between the Trump campaign and those tied to the Russian government, but it “did not establish … coordination” between the two.

Claims spreading online say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used expensive pens, or ones made of gold, to sign the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Actually, the pens, which are made mostly of brass, have a suggested retail value of about $20.

Posts circulating amid the Senate impeachment trial misleadingly accuse nine Republican senators of having “joined Democrats on impeachment.” The claim originated in October as a list of senators who had not yet co-sponsored an impeachment-related resolution — but six of them did sign on to that measure.

A viral YouTube video rehashed, and added to, a debunked hoax about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi taking money from Social Security to pay for the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump. The claim originated on a self-described satirical website. 

Social media posts make a broad and misleading claim that “Democrats stood with” the leaders of Venezuela, China and Iran rather than supporting oppressed people in those countries. The facts don’t support that generalization.

Statistical measures of how things have changed during Trump’s first three years.