Democratic ads tie swing-district Republicans to QAnon QAnon was once a sprawling set of Internet conspiracy theories with a devoted following. Now the movement has real-world tendrils. The FBI has designated it a domestic terrorism threat. QAnon adherents were organizing online and discussing violence before the Jan. 6 rally that turned into a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Some followers, including a man who dressed as a shaman and carried a "Q sent me" sign, have been arrested. Two Republicans in the House from deep-red districts, Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), have been associated with QAnon, especially Greene. But it's not the kind of element you want to be associated with if you're a swing-district Republican perennially fighting to hold onto your seat. Enter the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Democrats' campaign arm is running ads claiming that several swing-district Republicans "stood with Q" because they voted against impeaching Donald Trump in his last days in office. The ads are misleading to varying degrees, especially because some of them target Republicans who wanted to censure Trump, criticized his conduct, voted to condemn QAnon in October, or did not object to certifying President Biden's victory when the issue was before Congress. 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. Rick Scott's zombie voter-fraud claim Before there was Donald Trump, crying fraud about the 2020 election, there was Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), crying fraud about the 2018 election. Scott won his Senate race that year, but it took days to resolve. While the outcome was uncertain and his opponent was surging in the vote count, Scott gave a televised statement in November 2018 blasting Democratic election officials and alleging "there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward counties." Now, when he is asked about Trump's bogus fraud claims, Scott compares them to his own, unproven accusations, as if that somehow provided any support. Scott: "You have to remember what I went through in my 2018 election, where they completely violated the law. They found 95,000 votes after election night." Florida law enforcement and election officials looked into this claim and found nothing to support it. Scott was governor at the time, and the top officials at the investigative agencies were his appointees. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it conducted three investigations of the 2018 election, none of which uncovered widespread voter fraud or 95,000 "found" votes. Scott earned Four Pinocchios. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @rizzoTK, @mmkelly22) 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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