DemLabs blog

January 6 Investigation Committee: Follow along with a relationship map.

Follow the evidence.

Complexity, withholding evidence and delaying tactics are often used to escape judgement. How can details spread over dozens of websites and a large cast of characters be made easier to follow and share? How can information be kept up to date as more details emerge from the investigation?

Detectives use crime scene maps to investigate murders. Carrie Matheson on HomeLand use a wall chart to track terrorists. What software can be used to map an insurrection?

Trace the connections, characters, documents uncovered and publicly shared by the Jan 6th Committee with a relationship map designed with the free Kumu app. See the big picture or zoom into focus on an individual.

This blog explains how to do more with a relationship map, why Kumu provides this amazing software for free and how to get free help in creating relationship maps for the social justice and voting rights.

See the big picture or zoom in for details

Hover your mouse over an individual to focus in on them. Click on their image to reveal details on an individual, documents and videos in a side panel. Adjust the map to fit properly on your screen. The map makes it easier to navigate the information and find what you're looking for. This example shows how to find more details on Michael Flynn.

Hover your mouse over an individual to focus in on them. Click on their image to reveal details on an individual, documents and videos in a side panel. Adjust the map to fit properly on your screen. The map makes it easier to navigate the information and find what you're looking for. This example shows how to find more details on Michael Flynn.
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Analyze a person's connections and actions

Click on an individual and choose FOCUS. Click on the connection between people for details. This example for instance shows how to find details on the text message that Jim Jordan sent Mark Meadows.

Analyze an individual's connections with others and what they did.
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Use SEARCH to find details and connections

Search on the person you're interested in and Kumu displays the results. This example shows how typing Kerik brings up his background and presence at the Insurrection War Room at the Willard Hotel.

Use the SEARCH function to locate details on a person.
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Keep relationship maps up to date

Update relationship maps with more information. Review the update map with the same link or QR Code. The map from Dec 25th for instance has been updated with details about:

Relationship expands with investigation as more people and locations are added.

Kumu. Free software to simplify complexity.

The free Kumu app lets you create relationship maps to understand and explain things. The maps are simple, visual and interactive. And you can share them freely. This is from Kumu's manifesto.

"Whether you call them wicked, complex, intractable, or just plain broken, our society is facing many tough issues. We can't sit back and hope for the best. It's up to us to work through the complexity and create thoughtful, sustainable solutions. Health care, taxes, our financial and political systems — not only are they broken, many of our attempts to solve these problems have only made things worse. Everything’s connected and every action or inaction influences the system in indirect ways we can hardly imagine.

We can fix things by coming together and solving these issues as a community. We can start moving forward again by taking a holistic, cross-discipline approach involving the entire community — the problem solvers, the influencers, the artists, the young and the old, those in office and those on the streets. Our power to solve comes from the diversity of views we’re able to build from.


Complexity allows companies making billions of dollars in profits to pay lower tax rates than you do. Complexity allows your pension fund to invest in mortgages worth pennies on the dollar. Complexity allows governments to shut down over childish disagreements. Complexity is an excuse that allows us to say sorry, my hands are tied. Enough! The problems we face are already complex. Adding complicated solutions and regulations on top of them only makes matters worse and gives us a false sense of progress."

TakeAway: Make it easy for people to understand the facts with a Kumu relationship map.

Deepak
DemLabs

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DemLabs applies innovative technology and storytelling tools in service of democratic values. It lowers the barrier of funding for worthy candidates and non-profits by applying existing free/affordable solutions.