Trump's faux facts in the court of public opinion Former president Donald Trump is now on trial in a Manhattan courtroom, where facts are paramount, and a jury will assess the evidence and render a verdict. But as he enters and leaves that courtroom, Trump often stops before the cameras and blasts falsehoods to the court of public opinion, which can apply a different standard to Trump when it comes to facts. We conducted a quick assessment of several claims he made after the conclusion of the first day of testimony in his hush money trial, in the order in which he made them, including: - Former Trump aide Michael Cohen "got in trouble for things that had nothing to do with me." (Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including two — "causing an unlawful corporate contribution" and "making an excessive campaign contribution" — that directly relate to the hush money case now being litigated in Manhattan criminal court.)
- "If this were such a great case, why didn't the Southern District [of New York] bring it, who looked at it and turned it down?" (The former U.S. attorney who investigated the case said it was ended because of pressure from Attorney General William P. Barr.)
- "Why didn't the Federal Elections [Commission] do anything? … They said essentially nothing was done wrong or they would have done something about it." (The Federal Election Commission staff, in a December 2020 report by the general counsel, said it had found "reason to believe" violations of campaign finance law were made "knowingly and willfully" by the Trump campaign. But the FEC split on a party-line vote on whether to proceed.)
To read our full report, please click the link. Also: President Biden keeps knocking Trump for skipping an important ceremony commemorating World War I because he thinks war dead are "losers" and "suckers" but the actual reason remains in dispute. 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. Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military As the House on Saturday approved long-stalled aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, former Ambassador Richard Grenell, one of the top contenders to be secretary of state in a second Trump administration, posted that lawmakers had voted to "send $100 billion to foreign countries." His jab was a common talking point among opponents of the bill. The implication is that foreign aid is just a no-strings-attached gift. It isn't. About two-thirds of foreign assistance is spent via U.S.-based entities, according to the Congressional Research Service. For instance, food aid must be purchased in the United States and by law must be shipped on U.S. carriers. Except for some aid given to Israel, all military aid must be used to purchase U.S. military equipment and training. In the case of the aid package, which President Biden signed into law on Wednesday, it was estimated to cost about $95 billion. But information provided by the White House budget office and a detailed review of the bill shows that nearly 80 percent went either to weapons manufacturers in the United States to replenish stocks or supply weapons or to fund Defense Department operations in the United States and overseas. We dissected the numbers. To read the full report and to learn Grenell's Pinocchio rating, please click the link. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. We're also on TikTok. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. About the cats: It's a Friday and sometimes our fact checks deal with heavy or depressing subjects. So we hope to bring a smile to your face. Scroll down to read other fact checks related to Trump's legal problems | 
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