A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out; here are the real facts:
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NOT REAL: BREAKING: Federal Judge Tosses Michael Cohen Warrant And All Evidence With It
THE FACTS: The search warrant and evidence collected in a raid on the office of President Donald Trump’s lawyer was not thrown out. The Daily World Update satire site appeared to be the first to run a story that Judge Earl Manuel Mariano of the Northern California 43rd Circuit Federal and State Court of Appeals issued the decision. There is no such court. Attorneys for Cohen told a New York judge Friday that some of the records seized are protected by attorney-client privilege and asked to review them.
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NOT REAL: Oscar Pistorius Pardoned
THE FACTS: The Olympian actually lost a bid this week to get out of prison, where he’s serving a 13-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend. South Africa’s highest court dismissed Pistorius’ request to review the sentence on Monday. Department of Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo dismissed the report that the 31-year-old double-amputee runner had been pardoned by President Cyril Ramaphosa as “fake news.” The report appeared on a site called breaking-cnn, although it did not appropriate the cable network’s logo. Pistorius’ sentence was increased last year for the death of Reeva Steenkamp, 29, who he shot four times through a locked door in his home on Valentine’s Day in 2013. Pistorius has said he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder.
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NOT REAL: Trump Knocked Unconscious By Muslim Man Posing As Fox News Reporter
THE FACTS: A widely shared false news story claimed a Muslim “extremist” posing as a Fox News commentator attacked President Donald Trump with a tire iron outside Trump Tower in New York, but it didn’t happen. An image accompanying the false story on the Action News 3 hoax site comes from a 2007 Associated Press photo of Trump on the mat at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. Wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin knocked Trump down after promoter Vince McMahon’s wrestler lost his match to Trump’s wrestler and had his head shaved by Trump. The image has been used before in other false stories about supposed attacks on Trump.