Facts Matter: Trump didn't tell supporters to boycott midterms

The FBI conducted a search last month of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump, reportedly leaving with classified documents.

After the search, a screenshot on social media appeared to be a statement from Trump telling Republicans to stay away from the upcoming midterm elections.

"BREAKING: Donald Trump is telling all his supporters to boycott the midterm elections because of how the DOJ is treating him so unfairly," read the tweet.

A Facebook user shared the post, questioning the logic of this strategy.

"WHAT!!!" the post read. "If his supporters don't vote then republicans will lose every race! Right?!"

But the post is fake, according to Reuters. The former president never said this. A search Reuters conducted of Trump's website and Truth Social account, along with his spokesperson's Twitter account, found no evidence of this statement.

The post actually began as satire. Before being shared as a screenshot, it was a tweet from The Halfway Post, self described as "Dada journalism, halfway true satire & liberal comedy by @DashMacIntyre. I don't report the facts. I improve them."

FBI investigated 9/11 for nearly 15 years

A recent meme posted on social media shows a cartoon character claiming the FBI spent more time investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol building than the bureau spent investigating the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

The image shows a four-panel cartoon with SpongeBob SquarePants wearing an FBI baseball cap and holding a piece of paper that reads, "You spent more time investigating 1/6 than 9/11." SquarePants then goes on to throw the paper into a fire and warm his hands as the flame rises.

But SquarePants' claim doesn't hold water, according to PolitiFact. To date, the FBI has spent many more hours investigating the events of Sept. 11.

The investigation of the attack on the Capitol began the day of the insurrection, Jan. 6, 2021, and continues to this day, more than a year and eight months later. Nearly 900 people have been charged with crimes relating to the attack.

The FBI's investigation into the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 also began the day of the event, and within days, 7,000 members of the FBI were working on that case. A report was issued in 2004, but Justice Department documents showed the FBI was still investigating the attack in April 2016.

"If you really want to count time, the 9/11 investigative effort still continues today after 20 years," Stanford University professor Amy Zegart told PolitiFact.

Congress not exempt from IRS audits

A recent post suggests Congress members no longer will be the subject of future audits by the Internal Revenue Service.

"BREAKING. In order to safeguard democracy, Congress has voted to exempt itself and its members from upcoming IRS audits," read an Aug. 17 tweet shared more than 13,000 times.

But this claim is false, according to The Associated Press. There has been no recent legislation granting Congress this exemption, and the Inflation Reduction Act doesn't allow a special provision for legislators.

"All tax filers are treated equally under the tax law," IRS communications and liaison chief Terry Lemons told the AP.

A user on the account that made the claim later said the post was a joke.

"A shocking number of American adults can't spell nor recognize the word satire," the post said.

But the tweet was not deleted and continues to circulate on social media, the AP said.

Student loan relief won't be taxed by IRS

President Joe Biden on Aug. 24 announced a plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for people who qualify.

But a social media post the next day warned recipients to be ready to pay federal taxes.

"All those college kids that got their student loans forgiven better look at this. The forgiven amount is still taxable and must be reported to the IRS as income. If they think the interest rates are bad with their school loans, wait until they see the IRS interest rates," a Facebook post read.

The post showed a screenshot of an IRS webpage that read, "The amount of the canceled debt is taxable and you must report the canceled debt on your tax return for the year the cancellation occurs."

But this is not accurate, according to PolitiFact. A White House fact sheet says the student loan forgiveness will not be taxed.

"Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, this debt relief will not be treated as taxable income for the federal income tax purposes," the fact sheet says.

Although the debt relief will not be taxable on the federal level, the loan forgiveness still could be considered taxable income in some states on state returns, PolitiFact said.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com