Associated Press Had Michele Bachmann Fact-Checking 'Quota'

Michele Bachmann made so many dubious claims during the GOP debates that the Associated Press had a "quota" for how many it fact-checked.

Editor Jim Drinkard, who oversees the organization's fact-checking, made the revelation at a National Press Club panel on Wednesday. "We had to have a self-imposed Michele Bachmann quota in some of those debates," he said.

The Washington Post's Erik Wemple reported that the quota wasn't "numerical," but that Drinkard said he had to limit how many of her claims the AP vetted. “Often she was just more prone to statements that just didn’t add up,” Drinkard explained.

Some of those statements, according to independent fact-checking website Factcheck.org, included allegations that Obama's health care reform legislation would cost 1.6 million jobs over five years and that there is "no jail" for terrorists captured on the battlefield.

One of Bachmann's most-disputed statements came at the CNN/Tea Party debate in September, where she went after Rick Perry and called the HPV vaccine a "potentially dangerous drug." Health experts debunked that claim, which pundits also targeted.

(h/t The Washington Post)