The Lacuna Project

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

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

Court

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • INF-3.6: In its opinion of 15 November 2022 on the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, a federal court found that the five largest trade publishers held nearly 60 percent of 2021 trade-book sales and that literary agents prioritize submitting manuscripts to their imprints because of their ability to pay.
  • POL-6.6: The September 2018 Manafort superseding information charges that from at least 2006 to 2015 Manafort conspired with Richard Gates, Konstantin Kilimnik and others to act as unregistered agents of Ukraine, including by arranging payment of over $2 million from offshore accounts to two unnamed Washington lobbying firms, which the information does not identify. On 31 March 2017 DOJ's FARA unit told the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs in separate letters that each had an obligation to register for political activities for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.
  • POL-6.7: Michael Flynn stipulated in December 2017 that his 7 March 2017 FARA filings about a project for the benefit of Turkey contained materially false statements and omissions. He was charged only with a false-statement count about Russia contacts, and the court dismissed the case as moot on 8 December 2020. A jury convicted Flynn Intel Group executive Bijan Rafiekian in 2019 of acting as an unregistered agent of Turkey and of conspiracy, the district court set the verdict aside, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed an order for a new trial in 2023.
  • POL-6.16: On 11 August 2025 a federal district court preliminarily enjoined the withholding of $95 million of NED's fiscal 2025 appropriation and found the stated reason for it not plausible. The State Department obligated NED's full $315 million fiscal 2026 appropriation in March 2026, and the government's motion to dismiss the suit as moot was pending on 9 October 2026. Executive Order 14169 paused new obligations of foreign development assistance for 90 days on 20 January 2025, and on 26 September 2025 the Supreme Court stayed an order to obligate about $10.5 billion of expiring aid without deciding the merits.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 824 14 September 2018. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Special Counsel's Office): Superseding Criminal Information, United States v. Manafort, No. 17-cr-201 (ABJ), Doc. 419
  • Exhibit 827 1 December 2017. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Special Counsel's Office): Statement of the Offense, United States v. Flynn, No. 17-cr-232 (RC), Doc. 4
  • Exhibit 828 8 December 2020. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: Order, United States v. Flynn, No. 17-cr-232 (EGS), Doc. 310
  • Exhibit 841 11 August 2025. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Dabney L. Friedrich): Memorandum Opinion, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, No. 25-cv-648 (DLF), Doc. 46, 795 F. Supp. 3d 63
  • Exhibit 842 31 March 2026. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (parties' filing): Joint Status Report and Plaintiff's Motion to Withdraw Preliminary Injunction Motion, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, Doc. 70
  • Exhibit 843 17 July 2026. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (defendants' filing): Defendants' Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, Doc. 77
  • Exhibit 1031 15 November 2022. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Florence Y. Pan): United States v. Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Memorandum Opinion (as amended), No. 21-cv-2886 (D.D.C.)
  • Exhibit 1122 4 February 2026. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Chief Judge Boasberg): Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 23-3004 (JEB) (D.D.C.), Memorandum Opinion, Doc. 27
  • Exhibit 1131 24 April 2026. U.S. Department of Justice for the federal defendants, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: Defendants' Reply in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss, Aaron v. Bondi, No. 1:25-cv-04250-DLF (D.D.C.), Doc. 28