Fact Checker: John Boehner is blowing smoke on prisons and pot possession


Democracy Dies in Darkness

vvvvvvvvvv
Fact Checker
The truth behind the rhetoric


John Boehner is blowing smoke on prisons and pot possession
Former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) joined the advisory board of a multi-state cannabis company. The former speaker, who was once staunchly opposed, said “When you look at the number of people in our state and federal penitentiaries, who are there for possession of small amounts of cannabis, you begin to really scratch your head. We have literally filled up our jails with people who are nonviolent and frankly do not belong there.”
There are lots of people arrested for possessing marijuana but few of them end up in prison. (There is a difference between jails and prisons. In this case, he’s talking about prisons.) Not a single state treats pot possession as a felony. And in the federal system in 2017, only 92 people in the entire country were sentenced for possession.
Boehner is repeating a myth. Under no stretch of the imagination is Boehner’s claim accurate. For blowing smoke, he earns Four Pinocchios.

Did Comey lie about leaking information to the media?
President Trump let loose on a familiar target this week: former FBI Director James B. Comey. In a tweet, he said Comey had, “lied in Congress to Senator G.” This is a reference to an exchange that Comey had with Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) at a congressional hearing May 3, 2017.
Grassley asked if the then-FBI director had been an anonymous source or authorized anyone else at the FBI to be one in the news reports about either the Clinton or Trump investigation. (We’ve previously examined the claim that Comey illegally leaked classified information, finding it wanting.) So what is Trump on about? In the past, he has said he’s referring to the actions of Comey’s former deputy, Andrew McCabe.
McCabe was fired just before his retirement after a Justice Department Inspector General investigation found that he lied about his involvement in a Wall Street Journal report that disclosed the existence of an FBI probe of the Clinton Foundation. McCabe claims that Comey knew that he had leaked sensitive information, but the IG report undercuts that claim.
In the wake of the IG report, it appears that Trump’s original rationale that Comey lied to Grassley has turned to dust. Ordinarily, we’d label that as Four Pinnochios. But Trump’s latest reference to a lie is so vague that it could refer to just about anything. So, for the moment, the president earns Three Pinocchios.















Larry Kudlow’s claim that the Obama stimulus was ‘all spending’
President Trump's new economic guru needs to brush up on basic facts about the Obama-era stimulus.
By Salvador Rizzo  •   Read more » 
John Boehner’s claim that ‘we have literally filled up our jails’ with people for minor marijuana possession
The new spokesman for the marijuana industry says prisons have been filled with people who just possessed marijuana. He's blowing smoke.
By Glenn Kessler  •   Read more » 
President Trump’s claim that James B. Comey ‘lied in Congress to Senator G’
The president claims that Comey lied to Sen. Charles E. Grassley, but the claim is undercut by a new Inspector General report.
By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more »  
Dissecting House Speaker Ryan’s remarks on deficits and spending
When challenged on deficits, Paul Ryan responded with inside-the-Beltway code. We explain what's going on.
By Glenn Kessler  •   Read more » 

Comments

MOST POPULAR

NYT Editorial Board cites POGO

The Post Most: Syria says strike on military base carried out by Israeli warplanes

House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI's FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump

National Law Journal

The Big Mac And The Crocodile

The Daily 202: Trump launches a rescue mission to save GOP seat in Pennsylvania special election.....

The Post Most: Paul Ryan celebrated the tax cut with a tweet about a secretary saving $1.50 a week