Principle 05 of 06
The Public Record Standard
What the public record supports, you can say. What it doesn’t support, you cannot — regardless of how compelling the pattern.
This is not a limitation. It is the source of the methodology’s power. A claim built on documentary evidence is defensible, citable, and durable. A claim built on inference alone is vulnerable to the first simple explanation that comes along.
What counts as public record
In investigative contexts, the public record includes:
- Legislative and regulatory records (voting records, oversight reports, hearing testimony)
- Financial disclosures (lobbying registrations, FEC filings, corporate filings, SEC records)
- Court records and legal proceedings
- Inspector General reports and findings
- Declassified government documents (NARA, IWG, FOIA releases)
- Corporate and foundation histories, property registry chains
- Archived journalism and contemporaneous accounts
The discipline
At every stage of Phase Two, the investigator must be able to point to a specific document. “The record suggests” is not sufficient. “Document X, dated Y, shows Z” is.