GOP lawmaker misfires with 'serious crimes' claim on Hunter Biden If the Republicans win the House in the November elections, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky is on track to be chair of the House Oversight Committee. In a Fox News interview, Comer signaled that the business dealings of President Biden's son Hunter and brother James with such countries as China, Russia and Ukraine will be the subject of intense scrutiny in a GOP-led Congress. "Hunter Biden's committed serious crimes, as you mentioned, 150 suspicious activity reports," Comer said on Oct. 16. "Those are the most severe bank violations. This is when the bank notifies the federal government that we're pretty confident our client has committed a crime." In our fact check, we examined his claim that suspicious activity reports (SARs) means a bank is "pretty confident" that a crime has been committed. Comer, in fact, said each filing of a SAR meant "another act of a crime." Is that really the case? No. As part of the government's effort to combat money laundering and terrorist activity, financial institutions are required to file SARs to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an arm of the Treasury Department. FinCEN expects to receive nearly 3.7 million SARs in fiscal 2023 — in part because the threshold for filing a SAR is not especially high and that many banks file the reports just to be on the safe side. Comer earned Three Pinocchios for his misleading claim. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Biden's claims on Social Security and Medicare deserve an asterisk In an Oct. 14 tweet, President Biden asserted: "Social Security checks are going up. Medicare premiums are going down. That's a big deal for seniors." This is an instance when there needs to be a huge asterisk next to a politician's statement. Social Security benefits are going up next year — and Medicare premiums are going to drop. But the reasons are not that great for seniors. The reason Social Security payments are going up is because Social Security benefits, unlike virtually all annuities, are adjusted every year to keep pace with inflation as measured by the Department of Labor's consumer price index (CPI-W). On Oct. 13, the Social Security Administration announced benefits would increase 8.7 percent, for an average increase of more than $140. That's sounds like a lot, but in theory it's only letting seniors keep pace with the increase in the cost of living. As for Medicare, Part B is the part of the old-age health program that covers physician and outpatient services. Seniors pay a monthly fee. Biden is right that the premium will go down next year. Premiums were $170.22 per month in 2022 and will be $164.90 next year. That's a decrease of about 3 percent. That sounds like good news. But premiums had soared in 2022, rising $21.60, or 14.5 percent, one of the biggest increases in recent history. For seniors, the modest reductions in the coming year will not make up for the sharp increases from the year before. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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