The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia sent a letter this week to the editor of a scientific journal for chest doctors, implying that the journal was partisan and asking a series of questions about how the publication protects the public from misinformation, whether it included competing viewpoints and whether it was influenced by funders or advertisers.
“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 acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin stated, before noting that “you have certain responsibilities.”
The letter caught the attention of First Amendment groups and some scientists, who raised concerns that it was designed to suppress academic and scientific freedom.
“It’s really unusual when you see a U.S. Attorney from the Distinct of Columbia sending a letter to a publication based in Illinois inquiring about their editorial practices, in particular, a journal from a medical organization,” said JT Morris, a senior supervising attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). “That screams of a government official going after a publication because it disagrees with what the publication is saying.”
FIRE, a nonprofit civil liberties groups, has been critical of Martin, saying he’s threatened “to go after speakers critical of Department of Government Efficiency” and Elon Musk.
Scientific journals build a base of what scientists understand about their fields and allow researchers to share new findings with colleagues. Before publication, credible scientific journals review submissions and send studies to outside researchers to check for errors or problematic reasoning, which is why they are called peer-reviewed.
The Trump administration has made dramatic funding and personnel cuts at federal science and medical organizations, including the Health and Human Services Department and the National Institutes of Health. Some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have said the administration has targeted disfavored research topics for cuts. The administration has also made cuts at academic institutions over ideology, which has put some scientists on alert for government influence at independent journals.
The office of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia did not respond to an NBC News request for comment about the letter or its purpose.
The letter was originally posted on X by Dr. Eric Reinhart, a clinician, political anthropologist and social psychiatrist based in Chicago. Reinhart described the letter, in his post on X, as designed to “intimidate” and called it “fascist tactics.”
