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Former staff Writer, PolitiFact

Robert Farley was a staff writer for PolitiFact and a reporter with the St. Petersburg Times from 1998 to July 2011. Before joining the PolitiFact team in early 2008, he worked a stint on the newspaper's investigative team and won a 2008 Casey Medal for stories about the dramatic rise in antipsychotic drugs prescribed to children. In 2006, Farley won a first place award for general feature writing from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors for a story about a former girlfriend of rock icon Jim Morrison.

Featured Statements

John Boehner
stated on October 7, 2011 in a news release:

"Our unemployment rate has been higher than 8 percent for more than two-and-a-half years, far above what the Obama Administration promised with the 'stimulus.' "

By Tom Feran • October 13, 2011
Judson Phillips
stated on July 27, 2011 in a "Washington Post" opinion piece:

"Our government has spent $2.6 million to teach Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly."

By Robert Farley • July 29, 2011
Barack Obama
stated on July 25, 2011 in a televised address:

"The deficit was on track to top $1 trillion the year I took office."

By Robert Farley • July 27, 2011
Barack Obama
stated on July 25, 2011 in a televised address:

"President Reagan did it (raised the debt ceiling) 18 times. George W. Bush did it seven times."

By Robert Farley • July 26, 2011
Chain email
stated on June 22, 2011 in a chain e-mail:

Says a quote at the top of the redesigned website for the Department of Justice comes from a socialist who wanted to impose global common law.

By Robert Farley • July 14, 2011
Barack Obama
stated on July 6, 2011 in a Twitter Town Hall:

Says that when President Bill Clinton raised the top tax rates to levels now proposed by Obama, the country experienced significant job growth.

By Robert Farley • July 7, 2011
Barack Obama
stated on July 6, 2011 in a Twitter town hall:

"We have provided at least 16 tax cuts to small businesses."

By Robert Farley • July 7, 2011
Steve Case
stated on July 3, 2011 in an interview on CNN:

"Forty percent of the Fortune 500 were started either by immigrants or children of immigrants."

By Robert Farley • July 6, 2011
Michele Bachmann
stated on June 26, 2011 in an interview on Fox News:

"My husband and I have never gotten a penny of money from the farm."

By Robert Farley • July 1, 2011
Barack Obama
stated on June 29, 2011 in a press conference:

"What I have done -- and this is unprecedented ... is I've said to each agency ... 'look at regulations that are already on the books and if they don't make sense, let's get rid of them.'"

By Robert Farley • June 29, 2011

Barack Obama's top 25 campaign promises: How'd he do?

By Linda Qiu • January 5, 2017
Truth-O-Meter works hard during federal debt debate

By Meghan Ashford-Grooms • July 29, 2011
Glenn Beck's Greatest Hits (and Misses)

By Robert Farley • June 30, 2011
Fact-checking President Obama's press conference

By Robert Farley • June 29, 2011
Fact-checking Michele Bachmann on 'Face the Nation'

By Robert Farley • June 27, 2011
Oil reserves tapped, promise kept

By Robert Farley • June 24, 2011
Lawmakers, Perry stand up for incandescents

By Meghan Ashford-Grooms • June 21, 2011
California congressional race heats up

By Robert Farley • June 20, 2011
Fact-checking Michele Bachmann

By Angie Drobnic Holan • June 16, 2011
Fact-checking the Republican debate in New Hampshire

By Angie Drobnic Holan • June 13, 2011