My Letter in The New York Times: Pentagon Secrecy and the Fight for Truth

When the Pentagon Decides What’s ‘Fit to Print,’ the People Lose Their Right to Know

By Dr. John Petrone

Today, The New York Times published my letter to the editor (September 27, 2025, Page A17) on one of the most chilling developments yet in Trump’s second term: the Pentagon’s demand that reporters sign a pledge to publish only preapproved information, paired with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s extraordinary summons of generals and admirals to Virginia.

Here’s my letter as it appeared in print:

Pentagon Secrecy

To the Editor:

Your article about the Pentagon’s demand that reporters pledge to publish only preapproved information is alarming enough. But when paired with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s extraordinary summons of scores, and perhaps hundreds, of generals and admirals to Virginia next week, the pattern is chilling.

America’s strength has always rested on transparency and accountability. From the Pentagon Papers to the exposure of faulty weapons of mass destruction claims, a free press has protected the public from deception and misuse of power. Had these new restrictions existed at the time of the conflicts in Vietnam and Iraq, the truth might have never reached the American people.

Congress, the courts and the press itself must resist this overreach before secrecy, spin and secret gatherings replace the public’s right to know.

John Peter Petrone

I wrote these words because history is repeating itself — and this time the stakes may be even higher. What we’re witnessing is the slow suffocation of accountability: clampdowns on the press, shadow gatherings of military brass, and the deliberate substitution of propaganda for truth.

This is not normal, and it cannot be normalized.

We must remind ourselves why The Pentagon Papers mattered, why exposing false claims about weapons of mass destruction mattered: because without transparency, the American people cannot govern themselves. When secrecy replaces scrutiny, democracy becomes a façade.

Why This Matters to All of Us

If the Pentagon controls the narrative, the people no longer do.

If military leaders are summoned in secrecy, civilian oversight is undermined.

If Congress, the courts, and the press fail to resist, then accountability collapses.

This is a moment to raise our voices, to resist the chilling of truth. Silence is complicity.

How We Fight Back

Support independent journalism. Subscribe, donate, and share reporting that exposes what power wants to hide.

Contact your representatives. Tell them to defend press freedoms and demand oversight of the Pentagon.

Stay informed and engaged. Do not let secrecy become the new normal.

I am honored that The New York Times chose to amplify my voice, but this fight belongs to all of us. The line between democracy and authoritarianism is being tested in real time, and we must not allow it to be erased.

P.S. Release the Epstein Files.