Fact check: Video falsely claims to show Ted Cruz revealing deal between Nancy Pelosi, Hunter Biden
The claim: Video shows Ted Cruz exposing a deal between Nancy Pelosi and Hunter Biden
In July 2022, an online post surfaced with claims about a supposed deal between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.
The post, a 15-minute Facebook video, said it would show Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, publicly disclosing documents about the supposed deal.
"Sen. Ted Cruz REVEALS Shocking Documents EXPOSING Documents Nancy Pelosi And Hunter Biden Secret Deals (sic)," the video's title and caption read.
The same claim and video also appear in a YouTube post from June 19.
However, Cruz didn't mention Hunter Biden in the video at all, and he hasn't made any public claims about a secret deal between Pelosi and Biden's son.
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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook page that posted the claim, Conal Anatole, for comment.
No evidence for video's claims
The video doesn't expose any alleged collusion between Pelosi and Hunter Biden, as Lead Stories also reported. Instead, it combines two clips of Sen. Cruz speaking about unrelated topics.
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The first eight-and-a-half minutes of the Facebook video show a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 10, 2021, Cruz spokesman Steve Guest told USA TODAY. In the clip, Cruz speaks at length about potential changes to the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law that passed on Dec. 18, 2018, before Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee chairman, responds.
The rest of the clip comes from comments Cruz made on the Senate floor on March 1, 2022. He did not raise accusations of collusion with Biden's son during his speech, the video and a Congressional Record transcript show.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows Cruz exposing a deal between Pelosi and Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden isn't mentioned in the video, and the topics Cruz discusses are unrelated to any supposed deals between him and Pelosi.
Our fact-check sources:
Congress.gov, Dec. 18, 2018, S.756 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): First Step Act of 2018
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, June 10, 2021, Executive Business Meeting
Steve Guest, June 10, 2021, Tweet
Steve Guest, July 7, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Government Publishing Office, March 1, Congressional Record, Volume 168 Issue 37 (Tuesday, March 1, 2022)
Sen. Ted Cruz, Dec. 7, 2018, Sen. Cruz Releases Statement on His Support for a Revised Version of the First Step Act
Sen. Ted Cruz, Dec. 18, 2018, Sen. Cruz Applauds Senate Passage of First Step Act
Lead Stories LLC, July 5, Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Ted Cruz Revealing Documents That Expose Nancy Pelosi, Hunter Biden
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Video falsely claims to show Cruz revealing Pelosi deal
