You asked, we answered: Smithsonian vs USPS, ‘hostages’ vs ‘prisoners’

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00:00We pulled some of your best comments and questions from our YouTube videos this week,

00:09and we're putting them to the test. This is Straight From You, where we fact-check claims,

00:13separate fact from fiction, and add context to what's murky. So here's what stood out this week.

00:19Let's clear up a viewer's question who said this,

00:21I thought the Smithsonian was self-sufficient. Why are tax dollars funding it? And why does

00:26the post office stay open? All right, so here's how it works. The Smithsonian runs 21 museums,

00:32the National Zoo, and a network of research centers. About 60 percent of its funding comes

00:37from Congress. So when the government shuts down, it does too. Once the leftover funds run out,

00:42the door is closed. Exhibits go dark, and the zoo's animal cams switch off. However,

00:48caretakers and security still report for duty. The U.S. Postal Service, on the other hand,

00:52is not taxpayer-funded. It's an independent agency that runs on sales from postage and shipping.

00:58So your mail keeps moving, shut down or not. So the difference comes down to who pays the bills.

01:04Smithsonian? Federal dollars. Post office? Self-funded. That's why you can still get your

01:09mail, but cannot visit the museums. All right, number two. There's confusion over the federal

01:15indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James. Her supporters call the bank fraud charges

01:20baseless, but the indictment documents clearly exist. So what does baseless mean? In the James case,

01:27it's a political and legal claim. Her team argues the motive for the federal prosecution is baseless,

01:33that it's a vindictive or selective case, stemming from President Trump's desire for revenge.

01:39But factually baseless charges are also a technical legal tool used in some state courts,

01:44as detailed in the Marquette Lawyer. This is an intentional plea bargain, where a defendant pleads guilty

01:50to a lesser crime that the evidence doesn't support, to avoid conviction on a more serious charge

01:56that the evidence does support. The key distinction? The Letitia James case is federal,

02:02where that state-level plea tactic is banned. On to number three. A viewer commented that the terms

02:08hostage and prisoner are biased. The distinction is legal, but also a hotly debated topic. Under international

02:16law, taking a hostage is a war crime. It means seizing someone to compel a third party to do

02:22something. Those taken by Hamas on October 7th are legally considered hostages because they were

02:28captured as bargaining chips. The status of Palestinians in Israeli captivity is more complex.

02:35Some are prisoners convicted of crimes in court. But NPR reports thousands were administrative

02:41detainees and held for long periods without charges or a trial. Some U.N. experts argue these detainees

02:48also meet the legal definition of hostages, claiming they are used as leverage. Other groups

02:54strongly reject this, calling it a false equivalency.