Dec. 8: "A Colossal Fuck Up"
The Claim: Donald Trump and his inner circle received advance notice during the 2016 presidential election of WikiLeaks' plans to dump thousands of hacked emails belonging to Democratic National Committee staffers and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
The Source: CNN, MSNBC, and CBS News.
The Facts: The email that supposedly showed the 2016 GOP nominee and his team received advance notice of the email dump was actually sent after the hacked correspondences were made publicly available.
CBS, MSNBC, and CNN each reported separately that Trump and his team were given a heads-up, according to an email sent on Sept. 4. In reality, the email in question was sent on Sept. 14, after the emails were published online.
The difference between Sept. 4 and Sept. 14 is the difference between someone flagging already public information and someone quietly slipping the GOP nominee and his team advance access to hacked correspondences.
In short, the since-amended reports are little more than a "colossal fuck up" for their respective newsrooms, as on CNN reporter put it for the Washington Examiner.
Dec. 1: Flynn, ABC News and Brian Ross
The Claims: Former national security advisor Gen. Michael Flynn is prepared to testify that, as a candidate, Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians.
The Source: ABC News' Brian Ross.
The Facts: The referenced directive came after the 2016 election. The president-elect reportedly ordered his transition team to contact Russia and other world leaders regarding the incoming administration's foreign policy objectives, which is standard for incoming presidents.
It took ABC eight hours to issue a correction. When it did, it characterized it incorrectly as a "clarification."
Ross was suspended for his error, and subsequently banned from any further coverage of the president.
October 19: Flunking a True Statement
The Claim: No, the Clintons were not paid millions by Russia.
The Source: Newsweek.
The Facts: Yes, the Clintons have accepted millions of dollars from Russian entities. Newsweek's supposed fact check came in response to a tweet from President Trump that read, "Russia sent millions to Clinton Foundation."
He is not wrong, and the Newsweek article acknowledges as much.
It acknowledges that former President Bill Clinton received a generous $500,000 speaking fee in 2010 from a Kremlin-linked bank with ties to Uranium One, a Canadian uranium company that had mines in the U.S.
The Newsweek article also acknowledges a separate New York Times report that showed Uranium One's chairman donated approximately $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation in four separate installments as his company was being acquired by a Russian nuclear energy firm called Rosatom.
The Newsweek article doesn't, however, acknowledge that Uranium One owners donated an estimated $145 million to the Clinton foundation. That particularly glaring omission is just icing on a crummy cake.
Oct. 2: Gun Lift
The Claim: The House is voting to lift restrictions on gun suppressors just days after a mass shooting event in Clarke County, Nevada, left 58 dead and hundreds more wounded.
The Source: CNN chief national security correspondent and former Obama State Department official Jim Sciutto, NBC News' Rebecca Sanchez and Mic's Emily C. Singer.
The Facts: The House had no plans that week to address H.R.3668, which includes a provision that would loosen federal restrictions on gun suppressors. It never did.
This story appears to have originated with a San Francisco Chronicle report titled, "Pair of pro-gun bills on move in House." The article suggests the House "could pass" the SHARE Act as soon as this week, but it never provides proof of this claim. The closest that the report gets to backing the allegation is when it cites House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who said last week that the House had the votes to pass H.R.3668.
A review of the House's legislative itinerary for the week beginning Oct. 2 showed the measure was not scheduled for consideration. A handout provided to reporters on Sept. 29 by the office of Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy's, R-Calif., which is responsible for setting the House's legislative agenda, also showed no signs of the SHARE Act. A source in McCarthy's office also confirmed the bill was never slated for consideration that week.
In short, this particular narrative is a total fabrication.
Sept. 25: Betsy DeVos and Private Jets
The Claim: "Education Secretary DeVos uses a private jet to fly around the country to tour schools and attend other work events" and "DeVos uses private jet for work-related travel."
The Source: The Associated Press and the Hill.
The Facts: DeVos uses – ahem – her own private jet at her own expense for work-related travel.
She pays for almost everything. There is practically no cost to taxpayers. In fact, her to-date submitted travel expenses amount to a mere $184. Though the AP and Hill reports actually mentioned these details, the headlines were misleading enough as to have kicked off the usual cycle of online rage mobs.
September 5: Stepping on Rakes
The Claim: Top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway doesn't know how to read a news report.
The Source: Journalist Twitter.
The Facts: Conway published a note on Twitter that read, "In 1300-word story, NYT Fails To Mention Federal Criminal Defendant Bob Menendez Is A Democrat."
Her tweet linked to a Daily Caller report titled, "NYT Writes 1300 Words About Dem Senator's Corruption Trial Without Mentioning He's A Democrat."
The Daily Caller article and Conway are 100 percent accurate.
The initial run of the Times' report on the New Jersey senator appeared online without a single mention of his party affiliation. Social media users noted the glaring omission, and a few even accused the Times of deliberately shielding the Democratic Party from the Menendez scandal.
The Times eventually updated its story to include that he's a Democrat, which several journalists apparently didn't notice or understand. Instead, they dumped on Conway for saying something that was true because they didn't understand what happened.
