🎯 Priority Verification Plan

Systematic approach to replacing placeholder sources with verified documentation, ordered by impact and feasibility.

🚨 TIER 1: Critical & Legally Urgent (Verify First)

Timeline: Next 7-14 days | Impact: Highest | Legal Risk: High

1. VA Health Quality Data Removals

19M Veterans Affected Medium Difficulty

Why Priority: Affects veteran healthcare access; medical organizations tracking closely

Verification Methods:
  • Contact Veterans for Common Good, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
  • Check VA.gov Wayback snapshots for specific pages: quality outcomes, LGBTQ+ resources
  • Review VA press releases/internal memos from Jan 23-26, 2025
  • Cross-reference with medical journals covering VA policy changes

2. IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service Reports

160M Taxpayers Affected Easy Difficulty

Why Priority: TAS reports are statutorily required to be public; clear legal violation if removed

Verification Methods:
  • Check taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov directly - easiest to verify
  • Wayback Machine snapshots from Jan 26, 2025
  • Contact National Taxpayer Advocate office directly
  • Tax law organizations (Tax Foundation, Tax Policy Center) likely tracking

3. CDC HIV Prevention Pages

Legal TRO Active Medium Difficulty

Why Priority: Already under court review; partial restoration documented

Verification Methods:
  • Court documents from Lambda Legal case (already filed)
  • CDC.gov Wayback snapshots Jan 20-21, 2025
  • HIV advocacy organizations (Housing Works, POZ) have documented removals
  • Academic public health institutions tracking changes

4. EPA EJScreen Tool

Environmental Justice Easy Difficulty

Why Priority: Major tool removal; environmental groups actively tracking

Verification Methods:
  • Check ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ directly
  • EDGI has likely documented this removal already
  • Environmental justice organizations using this tool regularly
  • Academic researchers in environmental policy tracking

⚠️ TIER 2: High Impact, Medium Urgency (Next 2-4 weeks)

Timeline: 2-4 weeks | Impact: High | Difficulty: Varies

5. Census Research Methodology (3,000+ pages)

2M+ Researchers Hard Difficulty

Why Tier 2: Massive claim requiring detailed verification; affects academic research community

Verification Methods:
  • Contact American Statistical Association, Population Association of America
  • University research libraries tracking Census methodology changes
  • IPUMS, other research data repositories may have documented changes
  • Review specific URLs mentioned in methodology sections

6. DOJ NLEAD Database Removal

Police Accountability Medium Difficulty

Why Tier 2: CREW already filed lawsuit; good existing documentation

Verification Methods:
  • CREW lawsuit documents (already public)
  • News coverage from Reuters, Guardian documenting removal
  • Police accountability organizations tracking
  • DOJ press releases or internal memos

7. State Department Human Rights Reports

Diplomatic Impact Medium Difficulty

Why Tier 2: Major diplomatic transparency claim; human rights organizations tracking

Verification Methods:
  • Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International likely documented
  • State.gov Wayback snapshots
  • Congressional foreign relations committees tracking
  • International press coverage

8. Treasury Debt Transparency Data

Financial Transparency Easy Difficulty

Why Tier 2: Government financial data; financial press tracking

Verification Methods:
  • Check fiscaldata.treasury.gov directly
  • Financial news organizations (WSJ, Bloomberg) tracking
  • Government financial transparency organizations
  • Congressional budget committees

✅ TIER 3: Important but Lower Priority (1-2 months)

Timeline: 1-2 months | Impact: Medium | Strategy: Systematic verification

9. DHS Border Security Data

Immigration Policy Hard Difficulty

Why Tier 3: Immigration organizations actively tracking; good alternative sources available

10. BLS Employment Microdata

Labor Economics Medium Difficulty

Why Tier 3: Academic economists tracking; alternative data sources exist

11. Legal Case Documentation

Legal Accuracy Easy Difficulty

Why Tier 3: Court documents are public record; can verify through PACER

🔧 Recommended Verification Tools & Contacts

Primary Verification Sources:

  1. EDGI (envirodatagov.org): Contact for EPA, NOAA, USDA changes
  2. TRAC Immigration (trac.syr.edu): Contact for ICE, DHS data
  3. Knight First Amendment Institute: FOIA expertise
  4. Wayback Machine: Before/after snapshots
  5. News Organizations: Reuters, Guardian, Washington Post coverage
  6. Advocacy Organizations: ACLU, Lambda Legal, CREW litigation docs

Efficient Workflow:

  1. Start with Tier 1, item by item
  2. Document findings immediately in sources-validation-table.html
  3. Update status badges from "NEEDS SOURCE" to "VERIFIED" or "DEBUNKED"
  4. Replace placeholder URLs with real Wayback Machine links
  5. Move to next tier only after completing current tier

✅ Success Metrics

Week 1 Goal: Verify Tier 1 items (VA, IRS, CDC, EPA)
Month 1 Goal: Complete Tiers 1-2
Month 2 Goal: Complete comprehensive verification