FACT CHECK: Have The White House, Federal Reserve, The IRS and Congress Been Shut Down?
A post shared on Instagram claims Congress, White House, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Reserve have all been shut down.
View this post on Instagram
Verdict: False
There is no evidence for the claim. Check Your Fact found no credible news reports about any of the mentioned government agencies shutting down.
Fact Check:
An IRS special agent sought whistleblower protections to discuss “preferential treatment” in an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes with the White House, according to NBC News. The White House dismissed the allegations, claiming the investigation is “free from any political interference,” Fox News reported.
The Instagram post purports several government entities and banks shut down. The post shares an image of several gold bars stacked up in a vault. “With 650 flights, 60,000 tons of gold has been returned to THE PEOPLE EARTH!! (that’s a drop in the bucket)!!!” the photo’s text reads. “From the Vatican flew to America.”
There is no evidence for this claim, however. Check Your Fact found no credible news reports about any of those entities shutting down.
The White House website has remained active, its most recent press release being posted on April 20. The Congress website shows that the House and Senate have met recently. Verified Twitter accounts for the IRS and Federal Reserve have remained active. None of these sources mention currently being shut down.
The picture of gold shown in the post has been posted online previously. It appears in a 2014 U.S. Global Investors article about gold beating all other world currencies in that year. (RELATED: Is The Federal Reserve Suspending The Availability Of New Currency?)
Check Your Fact reached out to the White House and the Federal Reserve for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received from either source.
