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Epistemic capture

Operationalizing Enemy Manufacturing: The Spring 2025 Purges

Active campaign
Case Dossier EPI-ENM-001
STATUS
Active campaign
SEVERITY
Critical
DATE
2025-03-16
DOMAIN
Epistemic Capture
SUBDOMAIN
Executive Capture
CAPTURE VECTOR
Enemy manufacturing
TAGS
woke epistemic-sabotage propaganda lawfare chilling-effect retribution
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A coordinated, multi-front campaign in Spring 2025 to punish institutions branded as ideological enemies. The administration operationalized rhetoric into administrative violence through grant freezes (NIH), media shutdowns (VOA), and retaliatory debarment of law firms.

Summary

Throughout the first quarter of 2025, the administration transitioned from rhetorical attacks to concrete state action against perceived “enemies within.” This file tracks the simultaneous operationalization of this strategy across three distinct domains: science, media, and law.

Capture Mechanisms

1. Scientific Strangulation (NIH)

Under the guise of fighting “liberal bias,” the administration froze nearly $1 billion in medical research grants compared to the previous year.

  • The Tactic: A “sweeping communications ban” halted grant review meetings.
  • The Justification: Officials claimed grants were dedicated to “diversity and equity efforts,” using culture war pretexts to disrupt funding for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
  • The Pivot: This coincided with HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s push to pivot away from infectious disease research, effectively holding lifesaving funding hostage to ideological conformity.

2. Information Erasure (Voice of America)

On March 14, 2025, an executive order dismantled the agency overseeing Voice of America (VOA), labeling it a purveyor of “radical propaganda.”

  • The Shutdown: Hundreds of journalists were locked out of email systems and put on paid leave.
  • The Void: Broadcasts to authoritarian regimes (China, Iran) went dark or were replaced by music. Affiliates were left carrying only content from foreign state media (Russia, China), effectively ceding the information war to adversaries.

The President signed executive orders restricting the business activities of major law firms—specifically Paul, Weiss; Perkins Coie; and Covington & Burling.

  • The Pretext: The order cited “government sponsorship of harmful activity,” specifically naming former Paul, Weiss lawyer Mark Pomerantz (who investigated Trump) and the firm’s diversity policies.
  • The Punishment: The order suspended security clearances and barred employees from federal contracts or entering government buildings.
  • The Message: Legal representation of the President’s political opponents is now a career-ending offense for private firms.

Analysis

This is the implementation of Total State Retribution. The administration is demonstrating that any institution—whether a cancer research lab, a news broadcaster, or a private law firm—that crosses the regime or fails to align with its priorities will face existential administrative threats. The goal is to make the cost of independence prohibitively high.