Editorial record
Withdrawn records
A record is withdrawn when review finds it wrong, unsourced, or not a violation. Its page stays online as a dated notice so that existing links and citations still resolve, but it is left out of every listing, search, statistic, map, feed and download. See corrections and updates for how the archive handles changes.
Withdrawals
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146 Deportees Housed in Hotel That Collapsed in Venezuela Earthquake Hours Later
The record conceded that no rule was broken: the deaths followed the June 2026 earthquake, and the deportees were housed by Venezuelan authorities in a state-run hotel. Its casualty figures were also inconsistent.
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ACA Repeal Failure: Skinny Repeal Defeated, 23 Million Would Have Lost Coverage
A repeal bill that failed in the Senate is lawful legislative process. The record also stated that the bill passed 51-49 when it failed 49-51.
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Afghanistan Frozen Assets and Aid Termination: 22.9 Million Face Humanitarian Catastrophe
The asset freeze and aid cuts withdrew benefits rather than attacking a population, and the elements of a crime against humanity were not shown. There was no US armed conflict with Afghanistan in 2025, so the laws of war the record cited did not apply.
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Deportation of US Military Veterans
The record described the removal of non-citizens with criminal convictions after immigration proceedings. It did not establish a violation of international law.
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DOGE Gutted State Department Energy Bureau Months Before Iran War
The record's premise was inaccurate: the State Department's energy bureau was merged into another bureau in a July 2025 reorganisation, not eliminated by DOGE in August. Its source did not support the claimed link to military targeting.
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Doha Agreement: Negotiating U.S. Withdrawal with Taliban, Excluding Afghan Government
Negotiating the withdrawal from Afghanistan was lawful foreign policy, with no assistance to or causal link with the Taliban's later conduct shown. The record also duplicated another record on the Doha Agreement and contained several factual errors.
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Doha Agreement: Trump Negotiated Afghanistan Withdrawal With Taliban, Excluded Afghan Government
Negotiating the Doha Agreement was lawful foreign policy, and the Taliban's later crimes cannot be attributed to it as assistance. The record also misdated the start of the final drawdown.
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Ending US Funding for UNRWA and Aid to Palestinians (2018)
The record itself concluded that ending US contributions to UNRWA in 2018 was a lawful exercise of spending discretion, and that other donors closed the 2018 shortfall. No violation was shown.
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Environmental Deregulation: 100+ Rules Rolled Back Across Four Years
The regulatory rollbacks described were lawful agency rulemaking, and losses in court under administrative law are not rights violations. One claim in the record was also out of date.
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F-15E Shot Down Over Iran: Massive Rescue Operation Raises Escalation and Press Freedom Concerns
The record conceded that the rescue was a lawful military operation. The remaining element, a threat against journalists, was rhetoric with no prosecution, subpoena or arrest documented.
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Gun Violence Inaction: Parkland Promises Made and Broken, NRA Reversal
The record described a disagreement over gun and school-safety policy, not a violation. It also contained a factual error.
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HBCU Funding Cuts and Broken Promises: Trump's Record with Historically Black Colleges
Budget proposals are lawful policy, and Congress sets appropriations. The record also omitted later permanent HBCU funding and relied on an unsourced claim.
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Hegseth Reverses US Landmine Ban, Rescinds $5B+ Humanitarian Demining Program
The US is not party to the Ottawa Convention, and the policy authorises the self-destructing mines that CCW Amended Protocol II, to which the US is party, permits. The Rome Statute provision the record cited does not cover landmines, and the record conflated the policy with a separate aid freeze.
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Hurricane Irma: Virgin Islands and Federal Disaster Response Disparities
The record's central premise was contradicted: Governor Mapp publicly praised and thanked the federal hurricane response. Its claim about electoral motives was admitted speculation.
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ICE Workplace Raids and Mass Arrests at Job Sites
The record described warrant-based worksite enforcement and conceded that no court had blocked it. It documented no unlawful detention or mistreatment.
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JCPOA Withdrawal: Abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal Over Allied Objections
The JCPOA was a non-binding political commitment, and leaving it was a lawful policy decision. No violation was shown.
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Longest Government Shutdown in U.S. History: 35 Days Over Border Wall Funding
The 2018-19 shutdown was a lapse in appropriations during a political standoff with Congress, which is lawful. No violation was shown.
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Mattis Resignation: 'You Have the Right to Have a Secretary of Defense Whose Views Are More Aligned'
A cabinet secretary's resignation letter does not record a violation by anyone. The record also contained factual errors.
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MOAB Strike in Afghanistan: First Combat Use of Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb
The target was an ISIS-K tunnel complex, a military objective. The record's figure of four civilian deaths was wrong: its own Reuters source reported that Afghan officials dismissed claims of civilian casualties.
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Net Neutrality Repeal: FCC Eliminates Open Internet Rules Over Widespread Opposition
The repeal was an FCC rulemaking within the agency's authority and was largely upheld in Mozilla v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 2019). The fake public comments were traced to third parties, not the FCC or the White House, and the record duplicated another net neutrality record.
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Net Neutrality Repeal: FCC Rollback of Open Internet Protections
Repealing the net neutrality rules was an FCC rulemaking within the agency's authority. That is lawful policy, not a violation.
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New START Treaty Expires: First Time Since 1970s With No Nuclear Arms Control
New START expired on its own terms after its one permitted extension, and Russia had suspended compliance in 2023. A treaty lapsing is a lawful policy outcome, not a violation.
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Niger Ambush: Four U.S. Soldiers Killed, Trump's Response Criticized as Callous
The four soldiers were killed in an ambush by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. The matters attributed to the US side were rhetoric and a disputed phone call, not a violation.
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North Korea 'Diplomacy': No Inspectors, Continued Weapons Development, Strategic Concessions
Summit diplomacy with North Korea, whatever its results, is lawful foreign policy. No violation was shown.
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Operation Hawkeye Strike: Massive US Bombing Campaign in Syria
About three civilian deaths were reported, and no authority has alleged that the strikes were unlawful. The record's claim that Syria's government was not consulted is contradicted by Syria's invitation to the coalition to support its fight against ISIS.
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Opioid Crisis: Declared Emergency Without Funding, Commission Recommendations Ignored
How a public health emergency is funded is a lawful policy choice, and no violation was shown. The record's "$800 million cut" figure was unsourced.
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OSHA Workplace Safety Dismantlement: 60+ Rules Rolled Back and 223 Inspectors Eliminated
The record described proposed rules, a budget request and penalty guidance, with no measured harm; its own source reported no relaxation of enforcement. That is a policy disagreement, not a violation.
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Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal: Rejecting Global Climate Commitments
The Paris Agreement permits withdrawal under its Article 28, so withdrawing is lawful treaty practice. As written, the record described a policy disagreement.
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Pentagon Signs $210M+ Deal to Purchase Cluster Munitions From Israel
The US is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and buying cluster munitions is lawful for a non-party. The record's war-crime citation relied on a Rome Statute annex that does not exist.
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Phase II Mass Deportation: Expansion to Workplace Raids and 92,000-Bed Warehouse Detention System
The record cited the Rome Statute's deportation provision without showing either the unlawfulness of the removals or an attack on a civilian population. The "Phase II" plan it described was called for by outside groups, not adopted by the government.
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Prairieland Protesters Sentenced Under 'Antifa Terrorism' Framework to Terms Exceeding January 6 Sentences
The sentences were imposed by a court after jury convictions for violent offences, including the shooting of an officer. The record omitted an explosives conviction, and its "antifa" framing was a policy critique, not a violation.
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Record Expansion of ICE Deportation Flights to 79 Countries
The record documented the number of deportation flights, and scale alone does not make removals unlawful. Its claims of unlawful removals rested on cross-references, and one of them carried no source.
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Reimposition of 'Remain in Mexico' Migrant Protection Protocols
The record's sources establish only the announcement of 21 January 2025 that the program would be reinstated. A sourcing attempt on 9 October 2026 found no published figures showing that anyone was returned to Mexico under the program in 2025 or 2026.
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Scott Atlas and Herd Immunity: Trump's COVID Advisor Who Contradicted Scientists
Appointing an adviser is lawful, and the record identified no violation. It also overstated the number of signatories to a counter-statement by several orders of magnitude.
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Sinking of IRIS Dena: USS Charlotte Torpedoes Iranian Frigate Off Sri Lanka
A warship is a lawful military objective, and the published legal analyses, including the record's own lead source, found that the attack complied with the law of naval warfare. A failure to rescue survivors was not shown.
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Social Safety Net Attacks: Proposed Medicaid Cuts, Social Security Reductions
The record described budget proposals that were never enacted. A proposal is not an act that violates any rule.
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Sudan: US Declines to Press UAE Over RSF Supply as El Obeid Faces Assault
The record's own UN source shows the US sanctioning individuals and entities in the RSF's procurement and recruitment networks and urging an arms embargo, which contradicts its premise of US inaction. Failing to pressure a third state is not complicity in the RSF's crimes.
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Supreme Court: Three Justices in Four Years — Fundamental Rights Overturned
Nominating and confirming Supreme Court justices is lawful constitutional procedure. The record also misdescribed Chief Justice Roberts's vote in Dobbs.
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Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: $1.5 Trillion Cut Favoring Corporations and the Wealthy
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was legislation passed by Congress. Disagreement with its distributional effects does not establish a violation.
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TPP Withdrawal and Multilateral Trade Retreat: Ceding Pacific Economic Leadership to China
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was never ratified, and withdrawing the US signature was within executive authority. No congressional vote was required.
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Trump Administration Explored Resuming Nuclear Testing — First Time Since 1992
The record described internal administration discussions in 2020 about a nuclear test. No test took place and no order was issued.
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Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing, Breaking 33-Year Moratorium
The record described an announcement. The Energy Secretary later described the planned tests as non-critical, and the Arms Control Association reported in December 2025 that no explosive test had been conducted or scheduled.
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Trump's Systematic Undermining of NATO: Threatening Withdrawal, Refusing Article 5
The record described statements, not acts: the US affirmed Article 5 in June 2017 and did not withdraw from NATO. Its causal claim about Russia's invasion of Ukraine was unsourced.
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U.S. Strikes on Iran's Kharg Island Oil Export Hub
The strikes hit military targets, including mine storage and missile bunkers, while oil infrastructure was spared, and no civilian casualties were reported. No UN, ICRC, Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International body has called them unlawful.
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U.S. Strikes on Iranian Port Cities During Active Ceasefire (May 2026)
The record's premise that civilian port infrastructure was attacked was not sourced: US Central Command named military targets, and the only contrary claim came from an Iranian military spokesperson. No civilian deaths caused by the strikes were independently confirmed.
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Ukraine Aid Freeze and Capitulation to Russia: Pressuring Zelensky, Suspending Military Support
The record's timeline was wrong: aid was paused about 3 March 2025, after the 28 February meeting, and resumed on 11 March. Suspending voluntary aid is not itself a violation of international law.
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Ukraine Minerals Coercion: Trump Demanded $500B 'Payback,' Humiliated Zelenskyy, Conditioned Aid on Deal
The record's timeline was wrong on both the date and the condition of the aid suspension. Military aid is discretionary, and economic pressure is not a use of force or a ground for voiding a treaty.
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WHO Withdrawal: Leaving World Health Organization During COVID Pandemic
The 2020 notice of withdrawal from the WHO was lawful and was reversed before it took effect. The completed 2025-26 withdrawal is recorded separately.