Officials — in the CISA election-security agency's joint statement of November 12, 2020 — called it "the most secure in American history."

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of thousands of citizens disagreed and exercised their First Amendment right to bring their grievance to the government. The vast majority of protesters remained peaceful, but others carried out unlawful acts of destruction and violence. An unarmed protester in the Capitol was killed by police and several other protesters died of natural causes. Police officers were injured; none were killed.

Wildly opposing accounts emerged, ranging from "insurrection, attempted overthrow of the government" to "mostly peaceful protest" to "government entrapment of Trump supporters." This incident became the basis for an impeachment of President Trump and the most massive prosecution in U.S. history.

There is a tremendous amount of evidence to sort through which will likely take years. Will the U.S. fulfill its obligations to transparency? When the facts are known, which account fits the evidence?

Charges of police brutality following George Floyd's death brought millions into the streets. Many officials who had been enforcing COVID limits on gatherings made exceptions for these protests — critics called that a double standard; supporters called the cause urgent enough to warrant it. Much coverage described "mostly peaceful protests," while insurers tallied over $1 billion in damage claims, the costliest civil disorder in United States insurance history. Which framings fit the evidence?