A Trump administration political appointee broke the law with a gag order banning Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff from talking to the media, the Office of Special Counsel concluded. That gag order came from Michael Caputo, HHS assistant secretary of public affairs for a brief time, but an important one: mid-April through mid-September, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic really gained hold, abated, and surged again.  During those months, scientists were beginning to understand how the virus worked, how it was transmitted, what ways of controlling its spread might be most effective. But Caputo didn’t want HHS scientists or experts talking to the media without his sign-off. “There are no exceptions,” he wrote. His language omitted a legal requirement that any gag order on federal workers must include a notice that “These provisions are consistent with and do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order relating to (1) classified information, (2) communications to Congress, (3) the reporting to an Inspector General of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or (4) any other whistleblower.” Read more