How we work.
Primary sources first
Every dollar figure, every date, every name on this site traces to a primary document — a DOJ press release, an agency Inspector General report, a GAO audit, a court filing, a Federal Register notice, an FEC report, a state legislative auditor report, or a congressional committee release. Secondary news coverage is only a pointer to that primary document, never a standalone citation.
Source mix — judge the story, not the brand
For secondary outlets, we prefer wire services (Reuters, AP, Bloomberg), the Wall Street Journal news desk, and right-of-center outlets with solid factual records (Fox News Digital, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Free Press, RealClearInvestigations) alongside strong local investigative desks. NPR, CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, and New York Times are cited when and only when their specific story accurately documents a Democratic fraud or failure and the facts cross-reference to primary sources or other outlets. Accuracy trumps lean in both directions.
Name names
When a federal audit, a DOJ indictment, or a state legislative auditor names an official, a party, or a jurisdiction, we name them too — by office, by party affiliation at the time, and by city/county/state. The political geography of fraud is itself a fact.
Presumption of innocence
Defendants in pending criminal cases are presumed innocent until a verdict. We use language like 'alleged,' 'according to the indictment,' and 'the Committee found' for unresolved matters. We do not soften language for civil settlements that include no admission of wrongdoing, but we also do not assert guilt without a conviction.
Flag what we cannot verify
When a widely-reported detail cannot be traced to a primary source, we say so on the page — not in a footnote. Where a figure is an agency estimate rather than a closed total (e.g. SBA OIG's $200B PPP-fraud estimate), we note the estimator and any known methodological critique. We would rather publish a smaller, verified claim than a larger unverified one.
No fabrication. Ever.
Not a dollar amount, not a date, not a quote, not a person, not a URL. If a source would strengthen a claim but we cannot verify it, we leave it out. Our credibility is our entire product.
Corrections on the page
When we make a mistake, the correction is posted on the page where the error appeared, with a dated note. We do not quietly edit and hope nobody notices. Corrections preserve our credibility; covering them up destroys it.
Editorial focus: Democratic governance failure
Our primary editorial beat is fraud, mismanagement, illegal activity, and immoral conduct in Democratic federal agencies, Democratic-run states, and Democratic-run cities. We cover Republican-run jurisdictions when the site's editor specifically assigns the topic. This is an editorial choice about what we cover, not a claim that no Republican malfeasance exists anywhere.
Not false-balanced
We do not manufacture Republican stories to balance Democratic ones. Balance achieved by inventing an equivalent on the other side would be its own form of dishonesty. Where the record is lopsided, we report the record.
Archive the archive
Primary sources we cite are automatically submitted to archive.org's Wayback Machine. When an agency reorganizes a site and a URL rots, the snapshot remains. Every outbound link is expected to resolve forever; if one fails, we update the citation.
If you find a claim that isn’t supported by its citation, a link that returns 404, or a figure that disagrees with the underlying primary source, please tell us at Contact. Corrections are posted visibly, not quietly.