Guides

Start Here: Reading Paths by Role

Which analyses and forms to read first, for whistleblower counsel, records litigators, publishers, legislative staff, corporate counsel and others.

Version 1.10, October 2026. Cases were checked in Westlaw, including KeyCite history and pin cites, and statutes and regulations against official sources, in October 2026. Legal information, not legal advice; check every citation before relying on it. How citations are checked · Changelog.

The site has 33 analyses and 52 sample documents. Most readers need five or six of them. The paths below list them in the order a practitioner in each role would usually need them. Every analysis opens with a short list of key points, so a first pass through a path takes under an hour.

Counsel to a government or contractor whistleblower

  1. Issue C1 (which channels protect the client, and the reprisal remedies by type of employee).
  2. Issue C3 (criminal exposure, and why disclosure to the press is the riskiest route).
  3. Issue C4 (representing a client whose key facts are classified).
  4. Issue C5 (security clearance cases: DOHA, the SF-86, and the guidelines that matter for UAP witnesses).
  5. Issue B3 (proffers and immunity before testimony).
  6. Forms: C4-1 (engagement letter clauses), C3-1 (advisory letter), C1-1 (letter to AARO), C1-2 (reprisal complaint), C5-1 (answer to a DOHA Statement of Reasons), B3-2 (proffer request).

The site works on the premise that AARO is part of the concealment. The forms use the AARO channel for its statutory protection and run an inspector general or ICIG disclosure in parallel.

FOIA and records litigators

  1. Issue B1 (FOIA, mandatory declassification review, Glomar responses, and the UAP Records Collection).
  2. Issue A3 (the enacted UAP statutes, what a court can enforce, and the pending disclosure acts).
  3. Issue A1 (state secrets and the Totten bar, for cases that move beyond FOIA).
  4. Issue A2 (requesting the classified directives themselves).
  5. Forms: B1-1 (event request), A2-1 (directives request and MDR letter), B1-2 (appeal), A3-1 (complaint), A3-2 (preservation demand), A4-2 (state public records).

Journalists, authors, podcasters, and publishers

  1. Issue G1 (defamation, the fair report privilege, opinion, and anti-SLAPP protection).
  2. Issue B4 (prepublication review, prior restraint, and Espionage Act exposure for publishers).
  3. Issue F4 (official disinformation, pressure on media, and remedies).
  4. Forms: G1-1 (editorial standards), B4-2 (newsroom protocol for classified material), G1-2 (response to a retraction demand), B4-1 (prepublication review submission for a former official).

Legislators and committee staff

  1. Issue D1 (reporting duties for special access programs, funding limits, and enforcement).
  2. Issue A3 (enacted law and the House and Senate disclosure acts).
  3. Issue D3 (false statements to Congress and other crimes of concealment) and the statements chronology.
  4. Issue B3 (truth commission design).
  5. Forms: D1-1 (oversight request), D1-2 (request for a committee vote to release information), D3-1 (criminal referral), F4-2 (GAO decision request), F5-1 (Case-Zablocki letter), and the model statutes A4-1, B3-1, D6-1, E6-3, and F2-1.

Corporate, contracts, and securities counsel

  1. Issue D2 (contractor custody, the IRAD limit, mandatory disclosure, and the False Claims Act).
  2. Issue E4 (securities disclosure and insider trading around a disclosure event).
  3. Issue E5 (force majeure, war exclusions, and coverage).
  4. Issues E1, E2, and E6 (takings, secrecy orders, and patents).
  5. Forms: D2-1, E4-1, E4-2, E5-1, E5-2, E6-1.

Counsel for people injured or harmed

  1. Issue D5 (tort claims, benefits programs, and the HAVANA Act model).
  2. Issue D4 (aviation safety and FTCA liability).
  3. Issue A1 (state secrets as a defense).
  4. Forms: D4-1 (preservation demand after an aviation incident), D5-1 (FTCA claim narrative), B1-1 (records of the event).

Pilots, aircrew, and their counsel

  1. Issue D7 (where reports go, AIR21, FAA investigations, ASRS immunity, and medical certification).
  2. Issue D4 (the government’s duty to warn and FTCA liability).
  3. Issue C1 and Issue C5 (if the pilot is military or a government employee, or holds a clearance).
  4. Issue E5 (aviation insurance after a loss).
  5. Forms: D7-1 (letter to the air carrier), D4-1 (preservation and data request), E5-2 (notice of loss).

Scientists and research institutions

  1. Issue A5 (classification, export controls, CUI, and academic freedom).
  2. Issue E3 (found material and provenance).
  3. Issue F3 (communication with NHI and the rules that could apply).
  4. Forms: A5-1 (research agreement clauses), A5-2 (policy for unsolicited information), A5-3 (data-use agreement for government sensor data), E3-1 (provenance declaration), F3-2 (communication protocol).

Scholars of NHI and international law

  1. Issue F1 (legal status of NHI).
  2. Issue F6 (space and contact law).
  3. Issues F2 and F5 (force, detention, recognition, and war powers).
  4. Issue A4 (duties to disclose under constitutional, statutory, and treaty law).
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