Call for Investigation into Illegal HHS Gag Orders

Government Accountability Project and Open The Government sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel requesting an investigation into illegal gag orders issued by political leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last summer.

Our organizations wrote: “It has come to our attention that [HHS] leadership on multiple occasions violated the anti-gag laws enforced by your Office. Separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by Buzzfeed News and our organizations recently returned records evidencing these violations in primary documents, including email correspondence and agency communication policies.” The letter can be found here.

Government records obtained through FOIA show that former HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Michael Caputo, and his senior advisor, Dr. Paul Alexander, restricted HHS workers’ First Amendment speech rights without reminding them of their whistleblowing rights as required by law.

In one email, Mr. Caputo wrote: “According to longstanding policy, no media interviews are permitted without HHS ASPA clearance. There are no exceptions.” In another, Dr. Alexander demanded an “immediate stop” to the production of Center for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports — scientific reports to health professionals — unless Dr. Alexander cleared the reports in advance.

Whistleblower and appropriations laws disallow government managers from restricting their workers’ speech without reminding them of their whistleblowing protections. The Office of Special Counsel has the ability to investigate these violations of whistleblower law.

Irvin McCullough, a national security analyst with the Government Accountability Project, said:

“Federal workers have the right to speak up and make whistleblowing disclosures. Political leaders at HHS violated this right by issuing illegal gag orders. These violations deserve an immediate, thorough investigation. There’s simply no time to waste when government scientists might think they’re silenced from speaking up to protect the public health.”

Lisa Rosenberg, executive director of Open The Government, said:

“It is unconscionable that the public’s right to information is hampered at a time when the need for accurate and timely scientific data could not be more urgent. It is equally appalling that the full extent of the extent to which political appointees in the prior administration silenced scientists was only revealed as a result of successful litigation. These revelations underscore the need for more transparency at HHS and for the Biden Administration to repeal autocratic gag orders.”

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Former President Donald Trump's onetime White House adviser Peter Navarro could remain in a federal lockup during the Republican National Convention, prison records show.

The Federal Bureau of Prison official listing on Monday showed Navarro is set to be released on July 17, according to its online inmate tracker. The date, first reported by CBS correspondent Scott MacFarlane, is an initial record of when he's set for release and it could change.

The Republican Convention begins in Milwaukee on July 15.

The Bureau of Prisons record shows Navarro's inmate number at a low-security federal correctional facility in Miami is 04370-510.

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Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Jan. 6 Committee. The former trade adviser claimed then-President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to prevent him from testifying.

If Navarro is freed on the set date, he would miss most of the Republican convention, which begins on July 15. But he could attend the convention's final day on July 18.