Hard Reset

Last week, Hillary Clinton accused Russia of “grooming” Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for a third-party presidential bid. There isn’t evidence to back that up, which raises questions of why Clinton made the claim, where her allegations came from and if Clinton’s attacks actually aided Russia in sowing discord in the Democratic party.

This week on the show: Last week, a questionable story spread from a press conference in Ukraine to Fox News and other conservative outlets. We ask the age-old question: Why do news organizations run unvetted or straight-up inaccurate information?

Also mentioned on the show: False equivalence, how news fatigue contributes to an unbalanced media diet and the Columbia Journalism Review’s adopted role as public editor.

JC and Mollie peel back the layers of misinformation surrounding the whistleblower complaint, including the main tactics being used to discredit allegations involving Trump and Ukraine. Also: How the reliance on anonymous sources and filter bubbles impact perceptions of the media.

Hard Reset factchecks claims growing around the Trump-Ukraine call and whistleblower complaint. Was there a quid quo pro or a cover-up? Do the whistleblowers’ attorneys work for Hilary Clinton and donate to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign?

Plus, how a new Twitter feature could aid the spread of misinformation.

The last week has been dominated by news of a whistleblower complaint alleging President Donald Trump made a promise to a Ukrainian leader. We factchecked some responses to this story.

Plus: A $2.2 billion valuation for the company that provides background checks to the gig economy; a revived conspiracy theory about Jussie Smollett, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris; and issues with a popular statistic on transgender youth.

A lawsuit filed last week alleges Uber is willfully breaking a new California state law by continuing to classify its drivers as contractors. Plus, a factchecking rundown from the third Democratic debate.

Silicon Valley’s biggest gig-economy companies use a background check provider that puts the onus on the consumer to correct its mistakes. At least dozens of workers have lost opportunities at Uber, Lyft and other companies due to issues with background checks from San Francisco-based Checkr Inc., according to lawsuits and interviews conducted by Big If True.

Hard Reset host Justin Sanders and Big If True founder Mollie Bryant talk about what makes Checkr’s background checks different from more traditional screenings, what happens when job applicants dispute a report from Checkr and what Bryant found when she ran a Checkr screening on herself.

Proposed rules for the nation's nursing homes would scale back regulations for infection prevention and antipsychotic prescriptions. The industry said these requirements were unnecessary, costly and burdensome, but elder care advocates are concerned that eliminating them will put residents at risk.

In 2014, Oklahoma City's immigration court, technically a sub-office of Dallas's court, closed its doors. Big If True and Oklahoma Gazette examined the impact of the closure five years later, as defendants face higher costs to defend their cases.

Plus: Conspiracy theories began to circulate within minutes of Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide in jail. Epstein had faced charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.

Sexual assault victims have the right to file lawsuits under Title IX, a federal law that bans sexual discrimination at colleges and universities. But these lawsuits are restricted by statutes of limitations, meaning judges can dismiss cases that aren't filed within a certain amount of time.

Victim advocates say this deprives assault victims of their day in court, especially in situations where abuse didn't come to light until years later.