{"id":150899,"date":"2026-05-11T13:57:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/11\/doj-forum-shops-harassment-campaign-against-trans-kids-and-their-doctors\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:57:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:57:27","slug":"doj-forum-shops-harassment-campaign-against-trans-kids-and-their-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/11\/doj-forum-shops-harassment-campaign-against-trans-kids-and-their-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Forum Shops Harassment Campaign Against Trans Kids And Their Doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, the ballroom plaintiffs suggested that a federal judge should <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/05\/trump-doj-courts-rule-11-sanctions-in-ballroom-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">consider Rule 11 sanctions<\/a> for the top three lawyers at the Trump Justice Department. After publicly demanding that the National Trust for Historic Preservation withdraw its opposition to Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago replica, the DOJ submitted a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.79.0_3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">filing<\/a> so packed with falsehoods that the Trust\u2019s attorney Greg Craig (himself a former White House Counsel) suggested that some sort of consequence might be in order.<\/p>\n<p>This is not a one-off. More than a year ago, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign lied to Chief Judge James Boasberg\u2019s face about the flights taking off from Texas to CECOT in El Salvador. And since Acting AG Todd Blanche took over for the ousted Pam Bondi, the pace of these false representations seems to be picking up.<\/p>\n<p>In the past two weeks alone, Blanche got caught <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ep-227-presumption-of-irregularity\/id1727769913?i=1000766770059\">telling lies<\/a> about the Southern Poverty Law Center\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.almd.90264\/gov.uscourts.almd.90264.23.0.pdf\">previous cooperation<\/a> with law enforcement in the \u201cfraud\u201d case against the storied civil rights organization; and a federal judge in Rhode Island <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/lawandcrime.com\/high-profile\/has-to-be-fully-investigated-federal-court-calls-in-former-scalia-clerk-and-ethics-expert-to-probe-doj-lawyers-lack-of-candor-that-put-judge-in-harms-way\/\">referred<\/a> the chief of the Civil Division at the US Attorney\u2019s Office, Roger Bolan, for a misconduct investigation due to lack of candor to the court.<\/p>\n<p>And now the Civil Division at Main Justice seems to be lying about both the facts and the law in an effort to invade the medical privacy of thousands of trans kids. In so doing, they\u2019ve kicked off a cross-country battle that\u2019s already raging in three separate courts.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When every other court says no, try Texas<\/h2>\n<p>The story begins in July of 2025, when the Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch (EALB, formerly the Consumer Protection Branch) served administrative subpoenas on more than twenty hospitals and clinics around the country, demanding patient records for every minor who had been prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy for gender affirming care. The subpoenas purported to be investigating mislabeled drugs in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faegredrinker.com\/en\/insights\/publications\/2026\/1\/three-district-courts-quash-doj-subpoenas-investigating-gender-affirming-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Court<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowell.com\/en\/insights\/client-alerts\/colorado-judge-quashes-doj-gender-related-care-subpoena\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">court<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gladlaw.org\/federal-court-blocks-doj-subpoena-seeking-medical-records-of-transgender-youth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">quashed<\/a> them, characterizing the subpoenas as overbroad, legally deficient, or issued in bad faith to accomplish a policy goal rather than to investigate actual crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Counsel for Rhode Island Hospital (RIH), affiliated with Brown University Health, immediately began entering negotiations with the DOJ to narrow the scope of the subpoena. Per the hospital\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.7.0.pdf\">motions<\/a>, lawyers from EALB said they didn\u2019t believe RIH had engaged in any criminal wrongdoing and agreed that the August 7 subpoena deadline was flexible. RIH sent proposed search terms on February 4, 2026 and received no response until April 28, when a DOJ attorney emailed to set up a \u201cconference this week regarding status.\u201d Instead the DOJ filed a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.1.0.pdf\">petition to enforce<\/a> the subpoena in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Texas is clearly an inappropriate venue for an enforcement action against a hospital 1,700 miles away. But the District Court in Rhode Island would likely have quashed the subpoena, as would the District Court for the District of Columbia, where EALB is located and where RIH had been instructed to send its patient records. And so the DOJ got creative.<\/p>\n<p>Stating in conclusory fashion that the investigation was being carried out in the Northern District of Texas, it filed a motion in Fort Worth, where it was virtually guaranteed to draw either Judge Reed O\u2019Connor or Judge Mark Pittman \u2014 rabid conservatives whose dockets are a magnet for right-wing litigants looking to tee up a favorable ruling for the Fifth Circuit. That same day, without waiting for any response from RIH, Judge O\u2019Connor signed DOJ\u2019s proposed order verbatim, giving the hospital 14 days to hand over years of sensitive patient records or face contempt.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three court circus<\/h2>\n<p>Judge O\u2019Connor\u2019s order set off a multi-state litigation brushfire.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/childadvocate.ri.gov\/\">The Child Advocate for the State of Rhode Island<\/a>, legally designated to protect the interest of children in foster care, sued in the District of Rhode Island to block the subpoena. RIH has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049.20.0.pdf\">moved to intervene<\/a> in that case.<\/p>\n<p>And in Texas, RIH appealed the order to the Fifth Circuit on due process grounds and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca5.230000\/gov.uscourts.ca5.230000.15.1.pdf\">requested an emergency stay<\/a>, while <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.7.0.pdf\">petitioning<\/a> Judge O\u2019Connor to stay his March 14 deadline during the pendency of the appeal.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ has now represented to multiple courts that this investigation is really being conducted in Texas. Sure the subpoena was issued from DC and demanded production to EALB\u2019s office in DC; every DOJ attorney who negotiated with RIH works in DC; and RIH has no connection to Texas. But in an <em>ex parte<\/em> declaration filed under seal \u2014 i.e. not shared with RIH \u2014 the government it pinky swears that \u201cthere is substantial operational and decision-making control of the investigation being exercised at the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in the Northern District of Texas, along with several subjects and potential targets of the investigation located here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the Child Advocate points out, the relevant question isn\u2019t where this investigation is <em>now<\/em>, but where it was in July when the subpoenas issued. But more to the point, it takes chutzpah to self-righteously demand that the court accord due deference in a case where the DOJ has behaved in such outrageous bad faith.<\/p>\n<p>EALB, which is part of the Justice Department, assured RIH that the August deadline was flexible, and then sued while the hospital was earnestly negotiating compliance. In its motion to enforce, the government omitted to mention those negotiations, implying that the hospital simply blew off the subpoena. The DOJ characterized the motion as \u201cfulsome\u201d since it fulfilled its duty of candor by informing the court in a footnote that \u201ca handful of mistaken district judges\u201d had rejected identical subpoenas.<\/p>\n<p>It blatantly forum-shopped the case to a friendly conservative judge, and then, when called out, indignantly insisted that the investigation had <em>always<\/em> been located in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ even misstates the law it relies on to invade these children\u2019s medical privacy and menace their healthcare providers. EALB\u2019s theory is that drug manufacturers may be violating the FDCA by encouraging doctors to prescribe hormones for off-label uses. But as the Child Advocate notes in her <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049.1.0.pdf\">motion to quash<\/a>, off-label prescribing is perfectly legal. The FDCA explicitly <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/21\/396\">states<\/a> that \u201c[n]othing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or interfere with the authority of a health care practitioner to prescribe or administer any legally marketed device to a patient for any condition or disease within a legitimate health care practitioner-patient relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why all those doctors who prescribed ivermectin to treat coronavirus aren\u2019t in jail now!<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Trump\u2019s own Office of Legal Counsel <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/opinion\/file\/1162686\/dl?inline\">defended<\/a> the off-label use of barbiturates to execute prisoners, writing that, \u201c[W]hile the FDCA bars a manufacturer or distributor from selling any drug or device for an unapproved use, physicians may, with limited exceptions, prescribe and administer FDA-approved drugs and devices for unapproved uses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And while the government <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.1.0.pdf\">states<\/a> that it \u201chas reason to suspect that RI Hospital employees might have engaged in false billing concerning patients suffering from gender dysphoria,\u201d it took the exact opposite position last year when it tried to protect the big pharma company Janssen from a $1.6 billion civil verdict for encouraging off-label use of HIV drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOff-label prescription of a drug can sometimes be both medically accepted and reasonable and necessary for a given patient\u201d it <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca3.124977\/gov.uscourts.ca3.124977.56.0.pdf\">told<\/a> the Third Circuit, adding that the FDCA\u2019s \u201cmisbranding provisions govern how drugs may be marketed; they do not govern whether federal healthcare programs will reimburse for the drugs, as prescribed for particular patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That brief was signed by Brett Shumate, the head of the Civil Division at Main Justice \u2014 the same Brett Shumate whose name is on the enforcement filings in the RIH subpoena cases.<\/p>\n<p>In short, literally everything about this filing shows why the DOJ is not entitled to the presumption of regularity in this case <em>or any other<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BFFR<\/h2>\n<p>No one really believes that the administration currently leaping in to save Janssen is actually concerned about accurate drug labeling. Just a week into his second term, Trump signed an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/02\/03\/2025-02194\/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation\">executive order<\/a> targeting gender affirming care for minors. Since then, he\u2019s continued his war against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/trump-invents-word-in-desperate-truth-social-directive\/\">\u201cmutilization\u201d<\/a> by threatening hospitals who treat trans kids with the catastrophic loss of federal funds.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/ag\/media\/1402396\/dl\">gleefully vicious memo<\/a> last April, Bondi announced that she was \u201cdirecting the Civil Division\u2019s Consumer Protection Branch to undertake appropriate investigations of any violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by manufacturers and distributors engaged in misbranding by making false claims about the on- or off-label use of puberty blockers, sex hormones, or any other drug used to facilitate a child\u2019s so-called \u2018gender transition.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if otherwise truthful, the promotion of off-label uses of hormones\u2014including through informal campaigns like those conducted by sales reps or under the guise of sponsored continuing medical education courses\u2014run afoul of the FDA\u2019s prohibitions on misbranding and mislabeling,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n<p>Subpoenaing children\u2019s medical records is crucial to the plan to cut off access to care by terrorizing doctors and hospitals, all while leaving drug manufacturers unharmed.<\/p>\n<p>The Child Advocate put it plainly: \u201cIf accepted, DOJ\u2019s theory would criminalize virtually all off-label prescribing through the back door. If a hospital\u2019s act of dispensing an FDA-approved drug pursuant to a physician\u2019s off-label prescription automatically renders the drug \u2018misbranded\u2019 because its labeling lacks directions for the off-label use, then every hospital that fills an off-label prescription, a routine and pervasive practice across American medicine, would be committing a federal crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Courts have thus far been an impediment to DOJ\u2019s efforts to trawl through children\u2019s medical records. And so the DOJ is resorting to self help, running to one of the only judges in the country who would countenance such a legally and procedurally improper maneuver.<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring the ample evidence of the Justice Department\u2019s bad faith, Judge O\u2019Connor denied RIH\u2019s request to stay compliance. The <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.12.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">order<\/a> is a masterclass in circular reasoning. The judge simply credited DOJ\u2019s claim that \u201csubstantial operational and decision-making control of the investigation\u201d was being exercised in Texas. And he sneered at the suggestion that RIH could possibly suffer irreparable harm from being forced to produce records \u201cas part of a lawful criminal investigation,\u201d adding that \u201cRIH has not shown how it would be harmed rather than its patients, who are third parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contrast this scornful contempt with Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island, a Trump appointee. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/73290254\/in-re-motion-to-quash-administrative-subpoena-to-rhode-island-hospital\/?order_by=desc#minute-entry-463313500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">denied<\/a> the DOJ\u2019s request to transfer the Child Advocate\u2019s case to Texas, finding that the parties weren\u2019t the same \u2014 the children whose privacy rights were at stake were never before the Texas court and had no opportunity to be heard there.<\/p>\n<p><em>God only knows<\/em> what the Fifth Circuit will do with this insanity.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s DOJ continues to write checks on the accumulated reserve of DOJ credibility, even as it empties the account with shoddy, mendacious filings and transparent forum shopping. Bondi, Blanche, and their minions have destroyed the presumption of regularity, once a load-bearing pillar of the federal legal system.<\/p>\n<p>An administration that cannot win on the law tells lies about the facts. An administration that cannot win on the facts lies about the law. And when courts push back, it runs to the one courthouse in the country where it knows it can pound the table and get whatever it wants.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<em><strong>You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153.jpg?resize=300%2C153&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1163974\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/05\/doj-forum-shops-harassment-campaign-against-trans-kids-and-their-doctors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DOJ Forum Shops Harassment Campaign Against Trans Kids And Their Doctors<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the ballroom plaintiffs suggested that a federal judge should <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/05\/trump-doj-courts-rule-11-sanctions-in-ballroom-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">consider Rule 11 sanctions<\/a> for the top three lawyers at the Trump Justice Department. After publicly demanding that the National Trust for Historic Preservation withdraw its opposition to Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago replica, the DOJ submitted a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645\/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.79.0_3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">filing<\/a> so packed with falsehoods that the Trust\u2019s attorney Greg Craig (himself a former White House Counsel) suggested that some sort of consequence might be in order.<\/p>\n<p>This is not a one-off. More than a year ago, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign lied to Chief Judge James Boasberg\u2019s face about the flights taking off from Texas to CECOT in El Salvador. And since Acting AG Todd Blanche took over for the ousted Pam Bondi, the pace of these false representations seems to be picking up.<\/p>\n<p>In the past two weeks alone, Blanche got caught <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ep-227-presumption-of-irregularity\/id1727769913?i=1000766770059\">telling lies<\/a> about the Southern Poverty Law Center\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.almd.90264\/gov.uscourts.almd.90264.23.0.pdf\">previous cooperation<\/a> with law enforcement in the \u201cfraud\u201d case against the storied civil rights organization; and a federal judge in Rhode Island <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/lawandcrime.com\/high-profile\/has-to-be-fully-investigated-federal-court-calls-in-former-scalia-clerk-and-ethics-expert-to-probe-doj-lawyers-lack-of-candor-that-put-judge-in-harms-way\/\">referred<\/a> the chief of the Civil Division at the US Attorney\u2019s Office, Roger Bolan, for a misconduct investigation due to lack of candor to the court.<\/p>\n<p>And now the Civil Division at Main Justice seems to be lying about both the facts and the law in an effort to invade the medical privacy of thousands of trans kids. In so doing, they\u2019ve kicked off a cross-country battle that\u2019s already raging in three separate courts.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When every other court says no, try Texas<\/h2>\n<p>The story begins in July of 2025, when the Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch (EALB, formerly the Consumer Protection Branch) served administrative subpoenas on more than twenty hospitals and clinics around the country, demanding patient records for every minor who had been prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy for gender affirming care. The subpoenas purported to be investigating mislabeled drugs in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faegredrinker.com\/en\/insights\/publications\/2026\/1\/three-district-courts-quash-doj-subpoenas-investigating-gender-affirming-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Court<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowell.com\/en\/insights\/client-alerts\/colorado-judge-quashes-doj-gender-related-care-subpoena\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">court<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gladlaw.org\/federal-court-blocks-doj-subpoena-seeking-medical-records-of-transgender-youth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">quashed<\/a> them, characterizing the subpoenas as overbroad, legally deficient, or issued in bad faith to accomplish a policy goal rather than to investigate actual crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Counsel for Rhode Island Hospital (RIH), affiliated with Brown University Health, immediately began entering negotiations with the DOJ to narrow the scope of the subpoena. Per the hospital\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.7.0.pdf\">motions<\/a>, lawyers from EALB said they didn\u2019t believe RIH had engaged in any criminal wrongdoing and agreed that the August 7 subpoena deadline was flexible. RIH sent proposed search terms on February 4, 2026 and received no response until April 28, when a DOJ attorney emailed to set up a \u201cconference this week regarding status.\u201d Instead the DOJ filed a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.1.0.pdf\">petition to enforce<\/a> the subpoena in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Texas is clearly an inappropriate venue for an enforcement action against a hospital 1,700 miles away. But the District Court in Rhode Island would likely have quashed the subpoena, as would the District Court for the District of Columbia, where EALB is located and where RIH had been instructed to send its patient records. And so the DOJ got creative.<\/p>\n<p>Stating in conclusory fashion that the investigation was being carried out in the Northern District of Texas, it filed a motion in Fort Worth, where it was virtually guaranteed to draw either Judge Reed O\u2019Connor or Judge Mark Pittman \u2014 rabid conservatives whose dockets are a magnet for right-wing litigants looking to tee up a favorable ruling for the Fifth Circuit. That same day, without waiting for any response from RIH, Judge O\u2019Connor signed DOJ\u2019s proposed order verbatim, giving the hospital 14 days to hand over years of sensitive patient records or face contempt.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three court circus<\/h2>\n<p>Judge O\u2019Connor\u2019s order set off a multi-state litigation brushfire.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/childadvocate.ri.gov\/\">The Child Advocate for the State of Rhode Island<\/a>, legally designated to protect the interest of children in foster care, sued in the District of Rhode Island to block the subpoena. RIH has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049.20.0.pdf\">moved to intervene<\/a> in that case.<\/p>\n<p>And in Texas, RIH appealed the order to the Fifth Circuit on due process grounds and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca5.230000\/gov.uscourts.ca5.230000.15.1.pdf\">requested an emergency stay<\/a>, while <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.7.0.pdf\">petitioning<\/a> Judge O\u2019Connor to stay his March 14 deadline during the pendency of the appeal.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ has now represented to multiple courts that this investigation is really being conducted in Texas. Sure the subpoena was issued from DC and demanded production to EALB\u2019s office in DC; every DOJ attorney who negotiated with RIH works in DC; and RIH has no connection to Texas. But in an <em>ex parte<\/em> declaration filed under seal \u2014 i.e. not shared with RIH \u2014 the government it pinky swears that \u201cthere is substantial operational and decision-making control of the investigation being exercised at the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in the Northern District of Texas, along with several subjects and potential targets of the investigation located here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the Child Advocate points out, the relevant question isn\u2019t where this investigation is <em>now<\/em>, but where it was in July when the subpoenas issued. But more to the point, it takes chutzpah to self-righteously demand that the court accord due deference in a case where the DOJ has behaved in such outrageous bad faith.<\/p>\n<p>EALB, which is part of the Justice Department, assured RIH that the August deadline was flexible, and then sued while the hospital was earnestly negotiating compliance. In its motion to enforce, the government omitted to mention those negotiations, implying that the hospital simply blew off the subpoena. The DOJ characterized the motion as \u201cfulsome\u201d since it fulfilled its duty of candor by informing the court in a footnote that \u201ca handful of mistaken district judges\u201d had rejected identical subpoenas.<\/p>\n<p>It blatantly forum-shopped the case to a friendly conservative judge, and then, when called out, indignantly insisted that the investigation had <em>always<\/em> been located in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ even misstates the law it relies on to invade these children\u2019s medical privacy and menace their healthcare providers. EALB\u2019s theory is that drug manufacturers may be violating the FDCA by encouraging doctors to prescribe hormones for off-label uses. But as the Child Advocate notes in her <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049\/gov.uscourts.rid.62049.1.0.pdf\">motion to quash<\/a>, off-label prescribing is perfectly legal. The FDCA explicitly <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/21\/396\">states<\/a> that \u201c[n]othing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or interfere with the authority of a health care practitioner to prescribe or administer any legally marketed device to a patient for any condition or disease within a legitimate health care practitioner-patient relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why all those doctors who prescribed ivermectin to treat coronavirus aren\u2019t in jail now!<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Trump\u2019s own Office of Legal Counsel <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/opinion\/file\/1162686\/dl?inline\">defended<\/a> the off-label use of barbiturates to execute prisoners, writing that, \u201c[W]hile the FDCA bars a manufacturer or distributor from selling any drug or device for an unapproved use, physicians may, with limited exceptions, prescribe and administer FDA-approved drugs and devices for unapproved uses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And while the government <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.1.0.pdf\">states<\/a> that it \u201chas reason to suspect that RI Hospital employees might have engaged in false billing concerning patients suffering from gender dysphoria,\u201d it took the exact opposite position last year when it tried to protect the big pharma company Janssen from a $1.6 billion civil verdict for encouraging off-label use of HIV drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOff-label prescription of a drug can sometimes be both medically accepted and reasonable and necessary for a given patient\u201d it <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca3.124977\/gov.uscourts.ca3.124977.56.0.pdf\">told<\/a> the Third Circuit, adding that the FDCA\u2019s \u201cmisbranding provisions govern how drugs may be marketed; they do not govern whether federal healthcare programs will reimburse for the drugs, as prescribed for particular patients.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That brief was signed by Brett Shumate, the head of the Civil Division at Main Justice \u2014 the same Brett Shumate whose name is on the enforcement filings in the RIH subpoena cases.<\/p>\n<p>In short, literally everything about this filing shows why the DOJ is not entitled to the presumption of regularity in this case <em>or any other<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BFFR<\/h2>\n<p>No one really believes that the administration currently leaping in to save Janssen is actually concerned about accurate drug labeling. Just a week into his second term, Trump signed an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/02\/03\/2025-02194\/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation\">executive order<\/a> targeting gender affirming care for minors. Since then, he\u2019s continued his war against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/trump-invents-word-in-desperate-truth-social-directive\/\">\u201cmutilization\u201d<\/a> by threatening hospitals who treat trans kids with the catastrophic loss of federal funds.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/ag\/media\/1402396\/dl\">gleefully vicious memo<\/a> last April, Bondi announced that she was \u201cdirecting the Civil Division\u2019s Consumer Protection Branch to undertake appropriate investigations of any violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by manufacturers and distributors engaged in misbranding by making false claims about the on- or off-label use of puberty blockers, sex hormones, or any other drug used to facilitate a child\u2019s so-called \u2018gender transition.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if otherwise truthful, the promotion of off-label uses of hormones\u2014including through informal campaigns like those conducted by sales reps or under the guise of sponsored continuing medical education courses\u2014run afoul of the FDA\u2019s prohibitions on misbranding and mislabeling,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n<p>Subpoenaing children\u2019s medical records is crucial to the plan to cut off access to care by terrorizing doctors and hospitals, all while leaving drug manufacturers unharmed.<\/p>\n<p>The Child Advocate put it plainly: \u201cIf accepted, DOJ\u2019s theory would criminalize virtually all off-label prescribing through the back door. If a hospital\u2019s act of dispensing an FDA-approved drug pursuant to a physician\u2019s off-label prescription automatically renders the drug \u2018misbranded\u2019 because its labeling lacks directions for the off-label use, then every hospital that fills an off-label prescription, a routine and pervasive practice across American medicine, would be committing a federal crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Courts have thus far been an impediment to DOJ\u2019s efforts to trawl through children\u2019s medical records. And so the DOJ is resorting to self help, running to one of the only judges in the country who would countenance such a legally and procedurally improper maneuver.<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring the ample evidence of the Justice Department\u2019s bad faith, Judge O\u2019Connor denied RIH\u2019s request to stay compliance. The <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013\/gov.uscourts.txnd.419013.12.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">order<\/a> is a masterclass in circular reasoning. The judge simply credited DOJ\u2019s claim that \u201csubstantial operational and decision-making control of the investigation\u201d was being exercised in Texas. And he sneered at the suggestion that RIH could possibly suffer irreparable harm from being forced to produce records \u201cas part of a lawful criminal investigation,\u201d adding that \u201cRIH has not shown how it would be harmed rather than its patients, who are third parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contrast this scornful contempt with Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island, a Trump appointee. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/73290254\/in-re-motion-to-quash-administrative-subpoena-to-rhode-island-hospital\/?order_by=desc#minute-entry-463313500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">denied<\/a> the DOJ\u2019s request to transfer the Child Advocate\u2019s case to Texas, finding that the parties weren\u2019t the same \u2014 the children whose privacy rights were at stake were never before the Texas court and had no opportunity to be heard there.<\/p>\n<p><em>God only knows<\/em> what the Fifth Circuit will do with this insanity.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s DOJ continues to write checks on the accumulated reserve of DOJ credibility, even as it empties the account with shoddy, mendacious filings and transparent forum shopping. Bondi, Blanche, and their minions have destroyed the presumption of regularity, once a load-bearing pillar of the federal legal system.<\/p>\n<p>An administration that cannot win on the law tells lies about the facts. An administration that cannot win on the facts lies about the law. And when courts push back, it runs to the one courthouse in the country where it knows it can pound the table and get whatever it wants.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/lizdye.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/law-and-chaos\/id1727769913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<em><strong>You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawandchaospod.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153.jpg?resize=300%2C153&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1163974\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/05\/doj-forum-shops-harassment-campaign-against-trans-kids-and-their-doctors\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DOJ Forum Shops Harassment Campaign Against Trans Kids And Their Doctors<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, the ballroom plaintiffs suggested that a federal judge should consider Rule 11 sanctions for the top three lawyers at the Trump Justice Department. After publicly demanding that the National Trust for Historic Preservation withdraw its opposition to Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago replica, the DOJ submitted a filing so packed with falsehoods that the Trust\u2019s attorney [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/law-and-chaos-logo-liz-dye-300x153-3masf3.jpg?fit=300%2C153&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}