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Video doesn't show slain CEO talking about working with Nancy Pelosi | Fact check


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The claim: Video shows UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson talking about Nancy Pelosi

A Dec. 10 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows a man discussing a government grant program targeted toward funding "clean tech projects."

"And we had terrific connections," the man says. "So we've had people like Nancy Pelosi, TJ Glauthier, former deputy secretary of the DOE, working for us in terms of figuring out how to get a grant. We put together a very sophisticated, at least for a start-up of our size, grant application."

On-screen text in the video says, "UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Working with Nancy Pelosi."

Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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Our rating: False

The video shows a different man with the same name as the slain UnitedHealthcare CEO.

Video shows different Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione is being held in a Pennsylvania prison and has been charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. But the Facebook video doesn't show the CEO speaking about his ties with California Rep. Nancy Pelosi before his death.

The video was shared on the website of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 2012. The footage shows a different man named Brian Thompson, the co-founder and CEO of an energy company that was named Powergetics at the time, according to the video's description.

The school also shared the full video of Thompson's speech on YouTube. In the footage, he talks about trying to get a government grant to fund his start-up with the help of Pelosi and Glauthier, the former deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. In both the full video and the clip on Facebook, Thompson mentions grants for a clean energy start-up. Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was killed, never had a professional history with such companies and was already working for UnitedHealthcare when the video was shared, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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The Brian Thompson in the Facebook video clearly differs in appearance from the UnitedHealthcare CEO. He also has a separate LinkedIn account, which reflects his past employment with various energy companies. These include Powergetics, which later changed its name to Stem Inc.

Paste BN previously debunked the similar baseless claim that the UnitedHealthcare CEO was scheduled to testify against Pelosi in an insider trading investigation.

Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Reuters and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

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