evidence: Fact Check: Obama Did NOT Remove 500,000 'Pedophiles From Government Online Databases' Did former President Barack Obama remove half a million pedophiles from government online databases? No, that's not true: The claim refers to changes in criminal record-keeping. The Trump administration issued the memo in February 2017 that more narrowly defined a "fugitive from justice" as a person with an arrest warrant who had also fled state lines. This resulted in 500,000 people being removed from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Indices who were previously flagged, including but not limited to "pedophiles." There is no evidence there were 500,000 pedophiles on the list.