Impeachment Inquiry: Whistleblower Complaint (pt 3)
As we join the nation in watching how the Impeachment Inquiry Whistleblower Complaint plays out, we have ideated and designed a prototype Digital Archivy scorecard for informational appraisal. The Digital Archivy Scorecard grades based on Assessment, Identity, Description, Priority, and Security Classification.
In this way, we can determine the value of content based on provenance, function, significance and accuracy. With that in mind, we will look at another piece of critical evidence: The Whistleblower Complaint. This will allow us to assess the accuracy and trustworthiness of the different data inputs that will be examined over the course of the next few weeks.
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: WHISTLE-BLOWER COMPLAINT
The whistleblower filed his/her 9-page Whistleblower Complaint after the phone call between President Trump and Ukraininan President Zelensky. It is from August 12, 2019, and though it is unclassified, it has significant redactions. Further, though it is in PDF format, it is not text-searchable.
As we analyze the source, we examine its relevance and the provenance to gain a fuller understanding of its import. With this in mind, we gave significantly different scores for the Whistleblower complaint compared with previous blog entry (“Digital Archivy Scorecard on Information Appraisal (part 2)“).
In large part, this is due to the fact that we are confident in the identity of the sole author. We understand his perspective, and believe the accuracy and likelihood of his first-hand evidence. The clear language and thorough descriptions are all positive and could be used to support other sources. However, there are questions related to the document’s authenticity, provenance and chain of custody. Because there are redactions due to sensitive intelligence issues, the Description score suffers. This is a critical concern because accusations of a “mafia-style shake-down” are urgent and quite serious.
The priority of this source of information is very high, but it gets a B in Security Classification because parts of the complaint are redacted. This obscures and affects the complaint itself. Consequently, it also may change the meaning or message of the information itself.
However, on a whole, the Whistleblower Complaint is B-grade material. This information source is high-priority.
Stay tuned for Part 4.
Check out Part 1 on the Information Appraisal scorecard here.