The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

Independent research. Not affiliated with any government, agency, or company.

Agency

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • MED-3.10: In a letter of 29 July 2020 answering a request for all CDC documents comparing the health outcomes of children who received vaccines with children who never received any, CDC stated that it "has not conducted a study of health outcomes in vaccinated vs unvaccinated populations."
  • INF-4.3: CISA's head of its misinformation team testified that CISA forwarded election officials' reports about posts to platforms in the 2020 election, and the record differs on whether it did so in 2022. The district court wrote in 2023 that no evidence produced in the case tied the Trump administration to the switchboarding, and a 2025 Senate Commerce majority report dates DHS's election-disinformation task force to March 2018.
  • INF-4.12: Executive Order 13925 (Trump, 28 May 2020) was revoked by Executive Order 14029 (Biden, 14 May 2021). Executive Order 14149 (Trump, 20 January 2025) directs that no federal officer, employee or agent engage in or facilitate conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.
  • INF-4.13: The 2026 consent decree in Missouri v. Biden bars the Surgeon General, the CDC and CISA from threatening platforms with punishment unless they remove or reduce protected speech, and records no admission (para. 17). The Ninth Circuit held in O'Handley (2023) that compliance with a California office's flag was optional for Twitter, with no intimation of adverse consequences, and that Twitter's moderation was not state action. Twitter's 2023 brief in Trump v. Twitter, a litigation position, argues that coercion requires the threat of a government sanction and that the FBI's emails were advisory.
  • POL-7.11: On 4 July 2023 the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana preliminarily enjoined officials of the White House, the Surgeon General's office, CDC, FBI, CISA, NIAID and the State Department, finding the plaintiffs likely to succeed on the claim that the government coerced or significantly encouraged platform moderation. The court wrote that the alleged censorship "almost exclusively targeted conservative speech" and that the issues "go beyond party lines."
  • POL-7.12: The Fifth Circuit on 3 October 2023 agreed with the district court "but only as to some of those officials" and removed NIAID and the State Department from the injunction. On 26 June 2024 the Supreme Court held 6-3 in Murthy v. Missouri that "no plaintiff has carried that burden" and so "none has standing to seek a preliminary injunction."

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 865 4 July 2023. U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana (Judge Terry A. Doughty): Missouri v. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-01213 (W.D. La.), Memorandum Ruling on Request for Preliminary Injunction, Doc. 293
  • Exhibit 866 3 October 2023. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: Missouri v. Biden, 83 F.4th 350 (5th Cir. 2023) (revised opinion), No. 23-30445
  • Exhibit 938 29 July 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC/ATSDR FOIA Office): CDC/ATSDR final response to FOIA request #20-02002-FOIA for documents comparing health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children
  • Exhibit 939 5 January 2024. U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Amarillo Division), Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk: Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 2:23-cv-00102-Z (N.D. Tex.), memorandum order and opinion (ECF No. 40) on V-safe free-text responses
  • Exhibit 940 18 April 2022. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: V-safe active surveillance for COVID-19 vaccine safety, protocol version 5
  • Exhibit 941 August 2022 (online 9 August 2022). Wong KK, Heilig CM, Hause A, Myers TR, Olson CK, Gee J, Marquez P, Strid P, Shay DK (CDC COVID-19 Response Team); The Lancet Digital Health 4(9):e667-e675: Menstrual irregularities and vaginal bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination reported to v-safe active surveillance, USA in December, 2020-January, 2022: an observational cohort study
  • Exhibit 1118 25 March 2026. U.S. District Court, W.D. La. (Judge Terry A. Doughty), entered on the consent of the plaintiffs and the federal defendants: Consent Decree, Missouri v. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-01213 (W.D. La.), Doc. 478