How does PolitiFact Georgia’s Truth-O-Meter work?
Our goal is to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-check statements by local, state and national political leaders, including lobbyists and interest groups. We then rate them on the AJC Truth-O-Meter.
To fact-check a claim, reporters first contact the speaker to verify the statement. Next, the research begins. Reporters consult a variety of sources, including industry and academic experts. This research can take hours or a few days or even longer, depending on the claim. Reporters then compile the research into story form and include a recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling.
The fact check then moves on to a panel of veteran editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and President Barack Obama.
Very powerful folks. But that did not keep them from taking a recent ride on the AJC Truth-O-Meter, courtesy of PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia.
Want to see how they fared? Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below. Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
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Hillary Clinton on Saturday, July 2nd, 2016, in an interview on MSNBC:
Says she “never received nor sent any material that was marked classified” on her private email server while she was secretary of state.
Clinton has made this claim over and over again. An independent FBI investigation has found that to be inaccurate.
It’s important to remember that only “a very small number” of her emails, two, were marked classified when they were first sent, and just 110 out of the 30,000 she turned over were classified but unmarked. Evidence seems to indicate that Clinton generally dealt with classified information in an appropriate manner.
But over the course of a year, Clinton and her staff have painted a picture of an email setup where absolutely zero classified information slipped through the cracks, case closed.
We rated Clinton's statement False.
Donald Trump on Tuesday, June 21st, 2016, in an email:
“As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton laundered money to Bill Clinton through Laureate Education, while Bill Clinton was an honorary chairman of the group.”
Actually, the State Department under Clinton never made any direct transfers to Laureate Education.
Trump’s source conflates Laureate with a separate charitable organization that received funds from a separate government agency. The International Youth Foundation is a respected nonprofit that has received money from the government since the Bush years, before Clinton joined the State Department.
We rated Trump's claim False.
President Barack Obama’s campaign promise to end the war in Afghanistan in 2014:
Sources: BarackObama.com
President Barack Obama announced July 6, 2016, that even more troops will remain in Afghanistan by the end of his term, a heightened departure from his failed promise to end the war in the country by 2014.
Obama said 8,400 troops will remain when he leaves office, an increase from when he announced in October that 5,500 troops will remain. And that came just seven months after he expected only an embassy presence by 2016’s end.
In his remarks from the White House, Obama credited Afghan forces for maintaining control of large cities and infrastructure, and he touted the killing of Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a May airstrike.
“Nevertheless, the security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious,” Obama said. “Even as they improve, Afghan security forces are still not as strong as they need to be.”
The war in Afghanistan started in 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks. Even though the official combat mission ended in 2014, troops remained to train Afghan forces and assist counterterrorism missions. Obama emphasized the same mission would apply to the remaining 8,400 troops.
Obama has struggled to balance his pledge of ending the war and preventing a resurgence of conflict absent an American military presence.
“And that’s why, at times, I’ve made adjustments,” he said. “For example, by slowing the draw-down of our forces and, more recently, by giving U.S. forces more flexibility to support Afghan forces on the ground and in the air.”
When Obama announced 5,500 troops in October, the Taliban had taken over its first major Afghan city, Kunduz. The Taliban now controls large portions of Afghanistan, according to The New York Times, and Obama acknowledged Taliban advances in his remarks. In June, several Afghan ambassadors and military commanders wrote an open letter to Obama advising that 10,000 troops remain in the country.
Obama has decreased the number of soldiers in Afghanistan significantly from its 100,000 peak, although experts have said in the past that this actually worsened the conflict.
We didn’t take a stance on whether Obama ought to revise the United States’ commitments in Afghanistan. We did rate, however, his 2012 re-election promise to end the war in Afghanistan.
Obama’s announcement confirms this will not happen under his watch.
We continue to rate this a Promise Broken.
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