How the grades work
Most political arguments collapse because a rumor and a jury verdict are treated as the same kind of thing. This record keeps them apart.
Five evidence grades
- A Adjudicated, final
A jury or court decided, and the appeals are over.
- B Adjudicated, on appeal
A jury or court decided; an appeal is pending.
- C Official finding
A special counsel, Congress, an inspector general or a high court found it; never tried to a verdict on him.
- D Documented
His own recorded words or signed acts, or facts established by named reporting.
- E Allegation
Alleged and denied; no court has ruled.
Severity, for entries about harm
Harm entries also carry a severity level. It measures what was taken from the people affected, not how loud the story was.
- 4 Lives
- 3 Liberty
- 2 Livelihood
- 1 Dignity
Record and analysis
Every entry here is record: what happened, who said it, and where it stands. The book’s interpretive passages, marked Analysis, are not reproduced as entries. You can accept the record and still disagree with any analysis.
Dates and currency
All statuses were checked on October 15, 2026. Entry numbers were assigned when each entry was first published, so they do not always run in date order.