Polygraph

Pushback On Trump's Russia Policy, Competitive Midterm Races, DOJ Noncitizen Voting

Up First from NPR, Checked

Polygraph score
100Holds up15 claims checked
Details
What it claims
19 true
How it argues
Nothing found
How it persuades
Nothing found
What it’s built on
Nothing found
Up First from NPROct 20, 2026
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Up First from NPRPushback On Trump's Russia Policy, Competitive Midterm Races, DOJ Noncitizen VotingWhole episode, 13:10
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19 claims

What it claims

Claims

  1. 1TrueThe Department of Justice has charged 28 California voters with being noncitizens.The DOJ's October 19, 2026 press release and multiple tier1 outlets confirm that 28 people in California were charged, and all are green card holders who are not U.S. citizens, so the claim that they were noncitizens is supported. The charges include false citizenship statements and fraudulent voter registration, not only completed voting, and the claim's 'voters' wording is a loose but fair paraphrase.6 sources →
  2. 2TrueThe Department of Justice sued California to stop the counting of thousands of ballots.The DOJ sued California on October 15, 2026, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters, which matches the claim's 'thousands of ballots' as of the posting date. The post itself says the DOJ asked a judge to stop thousands of ballots from being counted, so the claim is a faithful paraphrase. Later rulings against the DOJ (October 28 and 30) do not make the claim false as of October 20.6 sources →

    ▶ 0:40

  3. 3TruePresident Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel.Multiple sources report that on October 9, 2026, President Trump announced and the Treasury's OFAC issued a general license temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian diesel, authorizing its sale and importation into the US through April 7, 2027. The claim omits the temporary, waiver-based nature of the lifting, but that does not change the core assertion.6 sources →

    ▶ 0:59

  4. 4TruePresident Trump suspended a sanctions bill named in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham.Multiple sources, including AP and Reuters, report that Trump signed an executive order on October 16-17, 2026 that puts on hold or waives the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which he had signed into law the previous month. The claim's wording ('suspended') matches the reported 'on hold' and 'waived' actions, and the extraction faithfully reflects the passage.5 sources →

    ▶ 1:30

  5. 5TrueUkrainian officials reported a loss of connectivity to Star Shield and Starlink satellite services for a few days last week.Ukrainian officials did report a multi-day disruption to Starlink and Starshield connectivity in the week before the post. Sources describe it as connection losses or speed restrictions lasting 'days' to 'over a week', so 'a few days' is a loose but acceptable fit.6 sources →

    ▶ 2:02

  6. 6TrueThe Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that partners have already paid for.The Pentagon's delay in delivering interceptor missiles already paid for by partners is supported by the Washington Post report, citing U.S. officials, that Defense Secretary Hegseth had not yet approved the transfers as of October 20, 2026. Rubio denied a deliberate political holdup but did not dispute that the delay existed, and the claim as worded does not allege deliberate intent.6 sources →

    ▶ 3:35

  7. 7TrueSecretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed it could be accurate that a batch of interceptors purchased for Ukraine has not been delivered.On 2026-10-20 Rubio did say it could be accurate that a batch of PURL-purchased interceptors for Ukraine had not been delivered, as the passage reports; Reuters and his own transcript support this. The claim's word 'confirmed' overstates his hedged, conditional answer, but the core assertion holds.3 sources →

    ▶ 3:42

  8. 8TruePresident Trump's conflict with Iran has driven up energy prices for Americans.Multiple tier1 sources (AP, Reuters, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org) document that the Iran war and the resulting Strait of Hormuz disruption pushed gasoline and diesel prices sharply higher for Americans (gasoline about $2.98 pre-war to $4.29; diesel from $3.76 to $6.35), so the claim that the conflict drove up energy prices is supported as of 2026-10-20 and remains so.4 sources →

    ▶ 4:30

  9. 9TrueKansas has not elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources (Reuters, PolitiFact, NYT, NPR) confirm Kansas last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1932, which is 94 years before 2026, so 'nearly a century' is accurate. The claim faithfully reflects the passage's statement; the 'polls suggest it's possible' part is the post's own framing and is not part of the extracted claim.7 sources →

    ▶ 5:51

  10. 10TrueDemocratic Senator John Ossoff raised over a hundred million dollars this cycle.Multiple sources report that Ossoff had raised well over $100 million this cycle by mid-October 2026, before the claim's 2026-10-20 date: AP reported about $137 million as of Oct. 14, and Bloomberg reported $116 million as of October. The claim's wording matches the passage, and the figures differ by source but all exceed $100 million.5 sources →

    ▶ 6:24

  11. 11TrueRick Jackson has funneled over a hundred million dollars of his own money into his campaign for governor of Georgia.Rick Jackson's own contributions to his governor campaign exceeded $100 million well before the claim's 2026-10-20 date: an AJC-cited analysis put his self-funding above $111.5 million by early July, and later AP and 11Alive reports put it near $194–200 million. The claim is a faithful paraphrase of the passage and is supported as of the posting date.4 sources →

    ▶ 6:44

  12. 12TrueMore than a million people have already voted in Georgia.Georgia's early-vote count passed one million before the 2026-10-20 posting date: a state-tracker figure of 1,330,455 ballots cast by Oct. 22 and a Oct. 26 report of more than 1.5 million, with 800,000+ cast in the final week. No source gives the exact count on Oct. 20, so the claim is supported by inference from the trajectory rather than a direct same-day figure. The claim is not about the post's broader Black-turnout remarks, which were not extracted.5 sources →

    ▶ 8:23

  13. 13TrueThe Department of Justice filed charges against more than two dozen people for voting crimes in previous elections.Multiple tier-1 and primary sources (DOJ press release, AP, Reuters, NPR) confirm that on Monday, October 19, 2026, the DOJ charged 28 people in California with election-related crimes, mostly alleged unlawful voting or fraudulent registration in prior elections. The claim's 'more than two dozen' matches the 28 figure, and the post's 'Monday' resolves to October 19, consistent with the posted date.6 sources →

    ▶ 8:49

  14. 14TrueThe Department of Justice sued the state of California and Los Angeles County because local officials declined to investigate non-citizen voting allegations.The DOJ sued California (naming Secretary of State Shirley Weber) and LA County registrar Dean Logan on October 15, 2026, and the suit's stated basis was the state's refusal to verify the citizenship of about 20,000 people flagged as likely noncitizens, which matches the claim's 'declined to investigate' rationale. The post's own 'last week' timing also fits, and the later judicial rejection of the suit does not contradict that the DOJ filed it or why.7 sources →

    ▶ 8:56

  15. 15TrueThe Department of Justice delivered a thumb drive to Los Angeles County containing the names of 20,000 people on California's voter rolls who the federal government says are likely non-citizens.Multiple reliable sources confirm the DOJ delivered a thumb drive to Los Angeles County listing about 20,000 California voter-roll names that the federal government calls likely noncitizens, and the claim's attribution to the federal government is accurate. Sources also report that the list is disputed, with some people on it apparently U.S.-born, but the claim only attributes the characterization to the federal government.7 sources →

    ▶ 9:26

  16. 16TrueThe Department of Justice has requested that California segregate the ballots of the 20,000 individuals on the provided list and not count them until they are investigated.The DOJ's request is well documented: Reuters and USA Today report that letters to California's Secretary of State and Los Angeles County demanded segregating mail ballots from the list of over 20,000 alleged noncitizens and not tabulating them until citizenship was determined. The claim matches the post, and the later judicial denials (Oct 28-30) do not make the request itself false, though they are a development since the claim was made on 2026-10-20.7 sources →

    ▶ 9:44

  17. 17TrueThe 28 individuals charged with voting crimes were green card holders who registered to vote.The DOJ primary release and tier-1 AP coverage confirm all 28 charged people are green card holders, and the charges include fraudulent voter registration. The claim drops the post's qualifier "allegedly": registration is a charge, not an established fact, and the sources say some defendants face only naturalization-application or voting charges, and some deny recalling registration.5 sources →

    ▶ 10:31

  18. 18TrueActing Deputy Attorney General Trent Maccottor announced the charges against 28 non-citizens for alleged voting crimes.Multiple tier1 sources, including AP and The Hill, report that Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter announced at a Monday, October 19, 2026 press conference charges against 28 California non-citizens (green card holders) for alleged unlawful voting and related crimes. The claim's spelling "Maccottor" is a variant of the sources' "McCotter", and "yesterday" resolves to October 19 from the posting date.7 sources →

    ▶ 10:34

  19. 19TrueThe 28 individuals charged represent 0.0001% of all registered voters in California.The claim matches the passage and the sources: 28 people charged is about 0.0001% of California's roughly 23 million registered voters. The Secretary of State's registration report (23,155,447 as of May 18, 2026; 23,164,977 as of Sept. 4) confirms the denominator, and 28 divided by about 23.2 million is roughly 0.00012%, which rounds to 0.0001%. Several outlets, including the Attorney General's office, repeat the same figure.6 sources →

    ▶ 11:16

Sources

Fact-checkers 24Primary records 8Most reliable outlets 4Reliable outlets 17Unrated 44

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