The Lacuna Project

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

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

Media

The Washington Post

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • DEF-2.8: The Washington Post's complaint alleges that it first requested a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Lessons Learned interview record in August 2016 and sued in October 2017. The court record states that the Post requested all such records on 23 March 2017 and sued again on 14 November 2018, and the Post published its "Afghanistan Papers" on 9 December 2019. In 2021 the district court rejected SIGAR's deliberative-process withholding and largely upheld its other exemptions.
  • INF-5.2: The Washington Post (4 October 1996) and the Los Angeles Times (20 to 22 October 1996) answered the August 1996 San Jose Mercury News series on Contra-linked cocaine sales within two months. The Times wrote that the crack epidemic "was not orchestrated by the Contras or the CIA or any single drug ring" and that it was "unclear what, if anything, the U.S. government may have known about this trade."
  • POL-6.15: In a Washington Post column of 22 September 1991, David Ignatius quoted Allen Weinstein, then head of the Center for Democracy, as saying, "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." The column describes overt funding as avoiding the backlash that exposed covert work produced.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 392 14 November 2018. Washington Post Company (plaintiff): Complaint, Washington Post Co. v. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, No. 1:18-cv-02622 (D.D.C.)
  • Exhibit 393 30 September 2021. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Amy Berman Jackson): Memorandum Opinion, Washington Post Co. v. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, No. 18-2622 (ABJ), Dkt. 44
  • Exhibit 836 22 September 1991. David Ignatius, The Washington Post: Innocence Abroad: The New World of Spyless Coups
  • Exhibit 1065 4 October 1996. The Washington Post (Roberto Suro and Walter Pincus), front page: The CIA and Crack: Evidence Is Lacking of Alleged Plot (Nicaraguans Had Limited Role in Bringing Drug to U.S. Cities)
  • Exhibit 1077 Correction added about 28 May 2021; reported 1 June 2021. The Washington Post; reported by Yahoo News: Washington Post correction to its February 2020 report on Sen. Tom Cotton and the coronavirus (as reported by Yahoo News)