MEBRO · DISINFO DESK
Investigations
Long-form dossiers on the hoaxes, deepfakes, and death rumors that go viral — each one stamped with a verdict and printed with every source on the record.
Politics & Policy
National Guard Troops Really Were Filmed at a DC Ballot Box. Was It Illegal Voter Intimidation?
A viral photo of armed Guard members standing in front of a Washington, DC ballot drop box on the first day of early voting is genuine. Whether it crossed into unlawful election interference is far less settled than the viral captions suggest.
FILED OCT 19, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 19, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
No, Ilhan Omar Didn't Flee to Morocco After the FBI Raid on Her Home
A site that advertises its own content as satire claimed 'State Department sources' confirmed Rep. Ilhan Omar fled to a country with no US extradition treaty. There's no evidence she ever left Washington.
FILED OCT 19, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 19, 2026 · 4 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
No, a Poll Worker's Mark Doesn't Disqualify Your Ballot
As early voting opens for the 2026 midterms, a years-old hoax claiming a poll worker's notation voids your ballot is resurfacing in North Carolina, Illinois, Tennessee and beyond — and election officials in multiple states say it could scare eligible voters into abandoning valid ballots.
FILED OCT 18, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 18, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
White House AI-Edited Arrest Photos: A Forensic Analysis
White House confirmed posting an AI-altered image depicting civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong crying during arrest. The original unaltered photo was posted 33 minutes earlier by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and the altered version also darkened Armstrong's skin tone.
FILED OCT 17, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 17, 2026 · 19 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Is Tim Walz Responsible for Minnesota's Massive Pandemic Fraud?
Minnesota's pandemic-era fraud scandals — led by the $250 million-plus Feeding Our Future case — raise real questions about Governor Tim Walz's administrative responsibility, distinct from claims of personal criminal involvement.
FILED OCT 17, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 17, 2026 · 13 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
The US Murder Rate Debate: Red States, Blue Cities, and the Data They Both Ignore
Data-driven analysis of US homicide trends reveals both 'red state murder gap' and 'blue city murder problem' narratives are incomplete. Socioeconomic factors predict violence far better than party affiliation.
FILED OCT 14, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 14, 2026 · 13 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
80th UN General Assembly Claims: A Comprehensive Fact-Check
Comprehensive fact-check of the 80th UN General Assembly claims including Trump's economic assertions, Geneva relocation rumors, and Netanyahu's Gaza statements.
FILED OCT 13, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 13, 2026 · 13 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
No, Abdul El-Sayed Didn't Call for Abolishing Prisons and Freeing Violent Criminals
A Senate Leadership Fund ad and rival Mike Rogers say the Michigan Democrat wants 4,000 inmates — including a convicted murderer — set loose. The real record is a 2018 sentencing-reform plan and a 2020 pandemic webinar, not a prison-abolition pledge.
FILED OCT 13, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 13, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
No, Andy Burnham Isn't Building a 'War Register' to Draft Civilians
A Facebook post claiming the PM is building a government list of citizens fit to fight went viral — the real story is a Liberal Democrat conference motion that isn't government policy at all.
FILED OCT 12, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 12, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump's 77% Trade Deficit Claim: Forensic Analysis
Trump claimed he 'slashed the monthly trade deficit by 77%' at Davos and in Iowa remarks before touting the same tariff win around a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Forensic analysis shows the figure cherry-picks two anomalous months — the cumulative 2025 deficit actually rose 4%.
FILED OCT 11, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 11, 2026 · 12 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump's Third-Term 'Loophole': A Constitutional Dead End
Fact-check: The viral claim that Trump can serve a third term via a 22nd Amendment 'loophole' is constitutionally implausible. The 12th Amendment closes the VP-succession route, and the overwhelming majority of constitutional scholars call the theory impossible or implausible — with only a handful acknowledging a theoretical textual ambiguity, not endorsing it as viable.
FILED OCT 11, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 11, 2026 · 20 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump's SOTU 2026 Immigration Claims: A Forensic Fact-Check
Trump's February 24, 2026 State of the Union delivered sweeping immigration claims — from 'zero illegal aliens admitted' to '11,888 murderers.' A forensic, line-by-line check against CBP, ICE, NIJ, TRAC, and DHS data finds a mix of real trends, deceptive framing, and at least one claim fact-checkers could find no evidence for.
FILED OCT 11, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 11, 2026 · 41 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump 'Shithole Countries' Comment: Confirmed, Nearly Eight Years Later
Trump himself confirmed in December 2025 that he used the phrase describing immigrants in a January 2018 meeting -- corroborating the account Sen. Dick Durbin gave at the time and that Trump denied for years.
FILED OCT 10, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 10, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump's Factory Construction Claim Cherry-Picks the Biden-Era Boom
Trump says manufacturing construction is up 41-42%, but Census data shows spending peaked under Biden in 2024 and has declined through most of Trump's second term.
FILED OCT 9, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 9, 2026 · 6 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Fake Trump Statements and a Phony Executive Order Followed Duterte's ICC Arrest
Viral posts invented BBC- and Washington Post-style quote cards and a fake executive order claiming Trump intervened for Duterte — no such statement or order exists.
FILED OCT 9, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 9, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump's 'World's Lowest Drug Prices' Claim Doesn't Hold Up
President Trump claims Americans pay the 'lowest prices in the world' for drugs. The data says otherwise: U.S. prices remain 2.78x higher than peer nations, all 16 companies with 'most favored nation' deals raised list prices in January 2026, and his percentage math is mathematically impossible.
FILED OCT 8, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 8, 2026 · 10 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
FALSE: Transgender People Are More Likely to Commit Mass Shootings
Comprehensive forensic analysis debunks claim that transgender people commit mass shootings at higher rates. Data from multiple databases shows trans people account for well under 1% of mass shooters while comprising roughly 1% of the population — they are statistically underrepresented, not overrepresented. Meanwhile, hundreds of trans people have been murdered since 2013.
FILED OCT 7, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 7, 2026 · 19 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trade War 2.0 Tariff Claims: A Comprehensive Fact-Check
Fact-checking Trade War 2.0 tariff claims. Analysis of consumer price impacts, household costs, who actually pays tariffs, manufacturing effects, and the Supreme Court ruling that ultimately struck the tariffs down.
FILED OCT 7, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 7, 2026 · 10 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump Told a Nebraska Crowd to "Let Them Take Out" LA and San Diego. Here's What He Actually Meant.
A viral clip has Trump inviting Iran to bomb two American cities. The full quote, and the fight over what it means, tell a messier story.
FILED OCT 7, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 7, 2026 · 5 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
A Sitting Congressman Is Faking His Opponent's Words With AI — and Wisconsin's Deepfake Law Can't Touch Him
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) posted a string of AI-generated videos putting fabricated statements in Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke's mouth. She sent a cease-and-desist letter; he answered with a cartoon duck. Wisconsin's deepfake disclosure law, it turns out, doesn't cover federal candidates at all.
FILED OCT 5, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 5, 2026 · 5 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Sen. Eric Schmitt Accused Jack Smith of Perjury Over an NBA Game He Never Attended
A televised 'gotcha' built on a text message about seat 109, Row 1 collapsed live on camera — the arena doesn't even number its rows that way. The clip went viral anyway, for all the wrong reasons.
FILED OCT 4, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 4, 2026 · 4 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
No, Abdul El-Sayed Didn't Call for Sharia Law in America
A clipped quote from a 2022 speech is circulating as proof the Michigan Senate candidate wants Islamic law to replace the Constitution. The full video shows him criticizing a different state's discrimination record, not advocating Sharia law.
FILED OCT 3, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 3, 2026 · 4 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
Trump Told TIME He Won 86% of the Vote and Iran's Inflation Hit 300%. Neither Is True.
In TIME's 2026 "What Trump Has Built" interview, the president mixed up his electoral and popular-vote margins, tripled Iran's real inflation rate, and cited a nonexistent 99% approval poll in Israel — among several other numbers that don't hold up against the record.
FILED OCT 2, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 2, 2026 · 3 SOURCES
Politics & Policy
SA Zulu King Salary Claims: Royal Funding vs. Exaggerated Figures
Viral claims that the Zulu King personally pockets a R66 million government salary conflate his actual personal pay - about R1.2-1.4 million a year - with a separate provincial budget that funds the entire royal household.
FILED OCT 1, 2026 · UPDATED OCT 1, 2026 · 6 SOURCES
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Investigative reports — not user-submitted fact-checks.