Know where it came from.
Every material item receives source, acquisition method, date, custodian, integrity status and legal-authority metadata.
TRUST & OPERATIONS
Evidence should become more reliable as it moves through the system.
A credible investigative institution needs written rules for provenance, preservation, corroboration, contradiction, expert analysis and correction. Publication is not a substitute for evidentiary discipline.
PROPOSED INVESTIGATIVE STANDARD
Separate the investigative record from the public narrative.
The investigative record should preserve source material, provenance, authenticity questions, contradictory evidence, legal restrictions and analytical steps. Public findings should cite that record without exposing protected information.
Know who handled it.
Transfers, transformations, copies and access events are logged so later reviewers can reconstruct the evidence path.
Do not flatten confidence.
Direct evidence, hearsay, inference, expert interpretation and unverified allegation should never be presented as equivalent categories.
Preserve what cuts against the theory.
Exculpatory, contradictory and uncertainty-producing material stays in the record and must be addressed before a final finding.
Important distinction
The Federal Rules of Evidence govern admission or exclusion of evidence in most U.S. court proceedings. A CIB investigative record would need its own investigative standards and should not pretend that every collected item is automatically admissible in court.
PRIMARY SOURCE · CURRENT U.S. PRACTICE
uscourts.gov · Federal Rules of EvidenceCurrent court evidence rules and official rule materials.Source distinction: Linked federal materials describe current U.S. law or practice. Citizen Branch rules on this page are proposed design standards, not current legal rights or government procedures.