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

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • INF-4.1: FBI, DHS and ODNI officials met regularly with platform staff about election content from 2017 and 2018, under the Trump administration, and the meetings continued through the 2022 midterms under the Biden administration.
  • INF-4.2: The FBI agent who ran the Bureau's platform contacts testified, from recollection, that about half of the items the FBI flagged led a platform to act under its terms of service. Twitter told a court in 2023 that its employees reviewed the FBI's flagged tweets independently.
  • 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-4.4: Twitter's chief executive told the Senate Judiciary Committee on 17 November 2020 that Twitter's 2018 hacked-materials policy was informed by conversations with the U.S. government. Twitter's head of Site Integrity stated in a declaration to the Federal Election Commission that Twitter's Trust and Safety leadership decided on 14 October 2020 to enforce the policy against the New York Post articles.
  • INF-4.7: No public dataset states how many government reports to platforms from 2017 to 2024 led to removal, by agency, platform and administration. The only figure in the record is the FBI agent's recollection of about half.
  • POL-7.14: The Homeland Security Advisory Council, which Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tasked on 18 May 2022 to assess how DHS can address disinformation while "protecting free speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy," reported on 24 August 2022 that it had recommended and the Council had accepted that there is "no need for a separate Disinformation Governance Board."

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 872 18 May 2022. U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Memorandum, Mayorkas to HSAC Co-Chairs, Initial Homeland Security Advisory Council Projects
  • Exhibit 873 18 July 2022. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Advisory Council: Disinformation Best Practices and Safeguards Subcommittee, Final Interim Recommendation
  • Exhibit 874 24 August 2022. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Advisory Council: Disinformation Best Practices and Safeguards Subcommittee, Final Report
  • Exhibit 1106 16 December 2022. Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi), Twitter thread: The Twitter Files, Part Six: Twitter, the FBI Subsidiary (thread, 16 December 2022)
  • Exhibit 1109 24 December 2022. Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi), Twitter thread: The Twitter Files: Twitter and "Other Government Agencies" (thread, 24 December 2022)
  • Exhibit 1111 3 January 2023. Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi), Twitter thread: The Twitter Files: Twitter and the FBI "Belly Button" (thread, 3 January 2023)
  • Exhibit 1116 29 November 2022. U.S. District Court, W.D. La. (deposition taken by plaintiffs, 29 November 2022; filed 3 March 2023): Deposition of Elvis Chan (FBI San Francisco), Missouri v. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-01213 (W.D. La.), Doc. 204-1
  • Exhibit 1117 12 January 2023. U.S. District Court, W.D. La. (deposition taken 12 January 2023; filed 4 March 2023): Deposition of Brian J. Scully (CISA), Missouri v. Biden, No. 3:22-cv-01213 (W.D. La.), Doc. 209-1
  • Exhibit 1119 17 December 2020 (response letter of 21 December 2020). Twitter, Inc. (counsel Covington & Burling) to the Federal Election Commission: Declaration of Yoel Roth (Twitter Head of Site Integrity), 17 December 2020, Exhibit A to Twitter's response in FEC MUR 7821 / MUR 7827
  • Exhibit 1130 16 March 2026. Joshua Aaron and All U Chart, Inc. (plaintiffs; Sher Tremonte LLP), filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: Amended Complaint, Aaron v. Bondi, No. 1:25-cv-04250-DLF (D.D.C.), Doc. 22
  • Exhibit 1132 26 June 2023. House Committee on the Judiciary and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government (majority staff): The Weaponization of CISA: How a "Cybersecurity" Agency Colluded with Big Tech and "Disinformation" Partners to Censor Americans (interim staff report)
  • Exhibit 1136 September 2025. U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Chairman Ted Cruz, majority): The Mechanics of Government Censorship: How the Biden Administration Converted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency into the Thought Police (report)
  • Exhibit 1141 17 November 2020. Twitter, Inc. (written testimony to a Republican-chaired Senate committee): Testimony of Jack Dorsey (Twitter, Inc.) before the Senate Judiciary Committee, 'Breaking the News: Censorship, Suppression, and the 2020 Election'