The U.S. Department of Justice has sent letters to medical journals for supposedly being “partisan,” heavily suggesting that they’re spreading misinformation and are influenced by “funders” rather than medical science. Gizmodo has confirmed that the journal CHEST, a peer-reviewed publication on pulmonary care published by the American College of Chest Physicians, received a letter this week. And MedPage Today reports that at least two other journals have received similar intimidating letters.
One of the DOJ letters, signed by the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Edward R. Martin Jr., first went viral on social media Thursday and is addressed to the editor-in-chief of the journal CHEST, Dr. Peter Mazzone.
“It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates,” the letter from Martin explains, “that is, that they have a position for which they are advocating either due to advertisement (under postal code) or sponsorship (under relevant fraud regulations). The public has certain expectations and you have certain responsibilities.”
The letter then goes on to list several questions, none of which are the purview of the U.S. Department of Justice, given the free speech protections afforded by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
- How do you assess your responsibilities to protect the public from misinformation?
- How do you clearly articulate to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are
influenced by your ongoing relations with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others? - Do you accept articles or essays from competing viewpoints?
- How do you assess the role played by government officials and funding organizations like the
National Institutes of Health in the development of submitted articles? - How do you handle allegations that authors of works in your journals may have misled their
readers?
The letter went on to say, “I am also interested to know if publishers, journals, and organizations with which you work are adjusting their method of acceptance of competing viewpoints. Are there new norms being developed and offered?” while ending with a request for a response by May 2.
Reached for comment over email, a spokesperson for CHEST confirmed the letter’s authenticity, while noting, “its content was posted online without our knowledge.” The journal also posted a public statement online Friday affirming its editorial standards but didn’t address the DOJ letter specifically.
“In its 90-year history, CHEST has published numerous articles that were breakthroughs in scientific research and clinical treatment, advancing the medical profession and improving the health and well-being of patients worldwide,” the journal said in a statement published online Friday.
The journal went on to stress the editorial standards the publication adheres to, including the ICMJE and COPE guidelines.
“CHEST adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and the COPE ethical guidelines for scholarly publishing, applying strict peer review standards to ensure scientific rigor,” the statement continued. “As the publisher, the American College of Chest Physicians respects and supports the journal’s editorial independence.”
The spokesperson told Gizmodo over email that legal counsel is currently reviewing the DOJ request, and the journal has no further comment at this time. It’s not yet clear which other journals cited by MedPage Today may have received the letters. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia didn’t immediately respond to questions over email Friday.
President Donald Trump has launched a war of retribution against perceived enemies, recently ordering the Department of Justice to investigate Chris Krebs, a cybersecurity expert whom Trump dislikes because he denied false claims by the president that the 2020 election had been rigged or stolen. Trump has also extorted several law firms for over a billion dollars in pro bono work, some of whom really regret their decisions to play ball, according to a recent report from the New York Times. Trump has also threatened to pull funding from major universities if they didn’t bend to his will, with many like Columbia University capitulating. Harvard University has pushed back, and Trump has reportedly told the IRS to strip the institution of its tax-exempt status.
The Society for the Rule of Law, a conservative legal group, has made a request to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the D.C. Court of Appeals for an investigation into several of Martin’s actions since he was appointed by President Trump to be the acting U.S. Attorney. Martin has announced investigations against his political opponents, tried to intimidate a law firm that represented Special Counsel Jack Smith, and has demonstrated “a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of a federal prosecutor,” according to the group.
The ACLU of D.C. also sent a letter back in February outlining its concerns about how Martin has threatened people over protected speech, specifically when the attorney promised legal action against anyone who takes actions to impede Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has been unlawfully destroying the federal government, unilaterally dismantling entire agencies like USAID and cutting funding for vital services, despite not having the authority to do so. But Martin appeared to threaten anyone who hindered their activities, even by just speaking out against them.
Trump is clearly trying to establish the U.S. as a fascist state, as he breaks vital government services, threatens American allies with invasion, and ships people convicted of no crime to a torture prison in El Salvador without due process. Trump has clearly ignored a Supreme Court order to return one man in particular from the CECOT prison, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but the regime refuses to comply.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s that the ideology of fascism is all-encompassing. Yes, they’re coming for the medical journals now, as ridiculous as that sounds. And every Trump supporter who thinks they’ll escape fascism’s wrath is sorely mistaken. In this kind of system, everyone is eventually made to prove their fealty to the leader. Anyone who makes a mistake or steps out of line, no matter how much they think they’ve proved themselves, will still feel the consequences.
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