Sources & Methods

Whenever possible, we cite original laws, official records, oversight reports, court documents, and the polling crosstabs — not just commentary about them.

This means when we say "the law requires X," we link to the actual statute. When we cite a poll, we link to the full methodology, not just a headline number. When we reference an investigation, we point to the official report.

Secondary sources (news articles, academic papers, think tank reports) are useful for context and analysis, but they're labeled as such. We distinguish between "the GAO found" and "a journalist reported."

If evidence is mixed or incomplete, we say so. We'd rather be precise than persuasive.

You'll see phrases like "the evidence suggests" vs. "the evidence is clear" — these distinctions matter. We also flag when we're making inferences vs. reporting direct evidence.

When experts disagree, we try to represent the strongest version of each position rather than picking a winner. Our job is to give you the information to decide, not to decide for you.

When direct polling exists, we cite it. When it doesn't, we look for the closest measurable proxies and clearly label the estimate as an inference.

For example, if there's no poll asking "Do you support making financial disclosures machine-readable?" we might cite polls showing support for "more transparency in government" and note that this is an indirect measure.

We're skeptical of polls that use leading questions or extreme framing. When citing polling, we try to find questions that are neutrally worded and from reputable pollsters with transparent methodology.