By Kim Witczak, Brownstone InstituteWhen my husband Woody died by suicide in 2003, nothing made sense.Everyone around me said the same thing: “He must have been depressed.”But I lived with him. I knew him. And in the deepest part of me, that explanation didn’t fit.Woody was outgoing, high-functioning, driven, and fully engaged in life. He was training for a marathon, logging his miles, showing up for work, and showing up for us. He wasn’t withdrawn or struggling in the ways people typically associate with depression.The only thing that had changed was that, five weeks earlier, his doctor prescribed him Zoloft—an antidepressant—for insomnia due to his new dream job with a start-up company. That was it.We didn’t know much about antidepressants then. But after Woody died, we started digging. And what we found was shocking. One discovery led to another. We began connecting the dots. Ultimately, it led us to file a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2384045/witczak-v-pfizer-inc/" id="">wrongful death/failure to warn lawsuit</a> against Pfizer.What we uncovered during that legal process changed everything.Internal documents. Emails. Memos. Strategy decks. Marketing plans. Risk assessments. Quiet acknowledgments of harm.All buried inside the system.All on company and FDA letterhead.All never meant for public eyes.That’s when I learned one of the most sobering truths of my life: <blockquote id="">Truth often doesn’t come from the doctor’s office or the stories we’re told. It lives in the documents—in black and white, behind closed doors.</blockquote>Documents don’t lie—they expose.Once you’ve looked behind the curtain, you see it clearly: the system runs on spin, shields power, and protects profit—not people.<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image " data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align=""><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/686a824b41326977b5d36254_Screenshot-2025-07-02-at-10.37.35-AM-800x771.png" alt="" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto" id=""></div><figcaption id="">Some of my favorite Zoloft internal documents.</figcaption></figure><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image " data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align=""><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/686a824b41326977b5d36249_Screenshot-2025-07-02-at-10.38.04-AM-800x757.png" alt="" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><h3 id="">The BIO Leaked Memo: “It’s Time for RFK Jr. to Go.”</h3>So when I read <a href="https://brownstone.org/articles/the-plot-to-get-rfk/" id="">this article</a> by James Lyons-Weiler for Brownstone Institute—a think tank I’ve come to respect for its commitment to questioning powerful systems and fostering honest dialogue—about the leaked BIO memo, where a pharmaceutical lobbying group discussed quietly removing RFK, Jr. and shaping public sentiment, I didn’t need convincing.I’ve seen this before.The names change.But the machinery doesn’t.<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image " data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align=""><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/686a824b41326977b5d36259_image-2.png" alt="" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure>The leaked internal document—reportedly from <a href="https://www.bio.org/" id="">Biotechnology Innovation Organization</a> (BIO), the powerful lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry—had just come to light. And when I read the April 3, 2025 steering committee document, it was déjà vu all over again.<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image " data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align=""><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/686a824b41326977b5d36251_image-3-800x448.png" alt="" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-video w-richtext-align-center" style="padding-bottom:" data-rt-type="video" data-rt-align="center" data-rt-max-width="" data-rt-max-height="" data-rt-dimensions="" data-page-url=""><div id=""><iframe src="https://brownstone.org/?pdfemb-data=eyJwZGZJRCI6NTU4MzgsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOlwvXC9icm93bnN0b25lLm9yZ1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDZcL0JJTy1WYWNjaW5lLVBvbGljeS1TdGVlcmluZy1Db21taXR0ZWUtQXByaWwtMy0yMDI1LmRvY3gucGRmIiwiaW5kZXgiOjF9" scrolling="yes"></iframe></div></figure>Because it said the quiet part out loud:<blockquote id="">“It is time to go to The Hill and lobby that it is time for RFK Jr. to go…”</blockquote>Not because of policy disagreements. But because he posed a threat—to the business model. To public scrutiny. To transparency. The memo outlined a strategic roadmap, naming “influential voices,” outlining investor fears, identifying messaging tactics, and spotlighting political allies like former FDA commissioner (now Pfizer board member) <a href="https://www.pfizer.com/people/leadership/board_of_directors/scott_gottlieb-md" id="">Scott Gottlieb</a> and CMS Administrator Dr. Oz. As someone with a career in advertising and marketing, I recognized the blueprint instantly. On one level, BIO was simply doing its job as a trade group protecting their clients’ interests. But on another, it reveals how calculated and controlled the public narrative can be, especially when profits and control are at stake. This wasn’t about protecting science or public health.This was about managing perception, neutralizing dissent, and maintaining their political capital.This post isn’t about defending RFK, Jr. or debating the politics of the FDA or NIH. It’s not about red or blue. It’s about something deeper—and far more dangerous: how far industry will go to protect its pockets and control the narrative, no matter who’s in charge.If you’ve followed my work, you know I’ve always said healthcare isn’t a partisan issue.It’s purple—for people. For the unsuspecting public, like we were almost 22 years ago.<h3 id="">The Campaign Wasn’t Public Health. It Was Public Relations.</h3>And the BIO memo isn’t the only example of this. There’s another document, obtained through a <a href="https://www.foia.gov/" id="">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)</a> request, that paints a similar picture. It wasn’t a science-led health strategy. It was a nationwide messaging campaign, designed not to support informed choice or foster open conversation, but to shape public behavior while shutting down questions and debate.We were told public health messaging during Covid was about “following the science.” But what this FOIA-obtained document from Judicial Watch reveals is something very different:A strategic communication campaign designed to shape perception, influence behavior, and saturate culture through entertainment and media—not evidence-based health dialogue. <figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-video w-richtext-align-center" style="padding-bottom:" data-rt-type="video" data-rt-align="center" data-rt-max-width="" data-rt-max-height="" data-rt-dimensions="" data-page-url=""><div id=""><iframe src="https://brownstone.org/?pdfemb-data=eyJwZGZJRCI6NTU5MjMsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOlwvXC9icm93bnN0b25lLm9yZ1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDdcL0p3X1ZfSGhzX0NvdmlkX0NvbW11bml0eV9Db3Jwc19TZXB0ZW1iZXJfMjAyMV8wMjMxNV9QZ3NfMzBfMzQucGRmIiwiaW5kZXgiOjJ9" scrolling="yes"></iframe></div></figure>Highlights from the internal HHS Public Education Plan included: <ul id=""><li id="">Vaccine “engagement packages” sent to entertainment talent and media agencies</li><li id="">Recruitment of late-night hosts, Hollywood comedy writers, and scripted TV shows </li><li id="">Partnerships with TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram influencers</li><li id="">Specials on Christian Broadcast Network and live TV programs like The Voice</li><li id="">Messaging amplified by the NFL, NASCAR, MLB, Disney Parks, and more</li><li id="">Algorithm-boosted content created with social media platforms</li></ul>What that document reveals is not a public health education campaign. It’s a coordinated psychological marketing blitz. It read like a global brand campaign rollout, except the “product” was a government-endorsed vaccination one-size-fits-all program. And the goal wasn’t informed consent. It was compliance. Every cultural and emotional lever was pulled. And unless you dug through FOIA documents like this one…you’d never know.And again, this isn’t about being “anti-vax” or “pro-vax.” It’s about being pro-truth, pro-transparency, and pro-human choice.I come from advertising. I know what a campaign strategy looks like.And this? This was one of the most aggressive PR blitzes I’ve ever seen.The fact that it had to be uncovered through <a href="https://www.foia.gov/" id="">FOIA</a> says everything.If this was truly about public trust, why wasn’t it public to begin with?<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image " data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align=""><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/686a824b41326977b5d3624c_image-4-800x451.png" alt="" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><h3 id="">From Where I Stand</h3>I’m not anti-medicine. I’m not anti-business. And I’m certainly not anti-progress.I believe in innovation. I believe in transformation. I love what business can do when it’s aligned with purpose and integrity.But I also believe in transparency over spin, and people over profit.Because when it comes to healthcare, we’re dealing with human lives—not products, not campaigns, not quarterly gains.And yet, healthcare remains one of the only industries where we’re taught to blindly trust and obey. No questions. No pushback. Just compliance.We give our power away—because we believe “they” know better. But here’s what I’ve learned through grief, advocacy, and the hard road of truth-finding:<blockquote id="">No one will ever care more about your health or your loved one’s life than you.</blockquote>And documents like these—whether uncovered through lawsuits, FOIA, or brave insiders—are the breadcrumbs we need to follow.They don’t lie.They don’t spin.They just show us the parts of the story we were never meant to see.<h3 id="">A Final Thought</h3>The truth doesn’t need to be protected. It needs to be revealed. And more often than not, the documents are where that truth lives. Let’s stay curious. Stay awake.And never stop asking…What are we not being told?Republished from the author’s <a href="https://acceptablecollateraldamage.substack.com/p/the-documents-speak-and-they-tell" id="">Substack</a>‍<a href="https://brownstone.org/author/kim-witczak/" id="">Kim Witczak</a>Kim Witczak is a leading global drug safety advocate, Consumer Rep on FDA Advisory Committee, and speaker with over 25 years professional experience in advertising and marketing communications.<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" id="">Published under a</a><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" id=""> Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>. For reprints, please set the canonical link back to the original <a href="https://brownstone.org/articles/the-documents-speak-and-they-tell-a-very-different-story/" id="">Brownstone Institute Article</a> and Author.

The Documents Speak. And They Tell a Very Different Story

Truth often doesn’t come from the doctor’s office or the stories we’re told. It lives in the documents—behind closed doors

Several cities in California canceled July 4th celebrations this weekend out of concern that immigration authorities might arrest illegal aliens who attend.&nbsp;<h2 id="">Los Angeles</h2><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/list-cities-canceling-4th-july-events-expands-what-know-2094163" id="">According</a> to Newsweek, the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department canceled East LA's Rockin' 4th of July celebration and other community events to protect illegals from being apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents."It is with deep respect and a heavy heart that the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation announces . . . the cancellation of this year's East Los Angeles Rockin 4th of July celebration. Out of caution, and in response to recent ICE enforcement activity impacting our communities, we are prioritizing safety and well-being of our residents, visitors, and staff,” the department said.<h2 id="">Bell Gardens</h2>Bell Gardens issued a similar statement explaining why the city was canceling all Independence Day celebrations: “Out of an abundance of caution regarding concerns for resident safety over federal immigration enforcement activities, the City of Bell Gardens will be canceling . . . Independence Day Celebration.” The city then published resources for illegal aliens such as “know your rights” fact sheets.<h2 id="">Boyle Heights and Huntington Park</h2>Boyle Heights and Huntington Park also canceled their July 4th celebrations, with Boyle Heights officials blaming the decision on “the presence of federal agents in the community.”<h2 id="">Whittier</h2>Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri did not specifically name ICE in his statement announcing the cancelation of July 4th celebrations."While celebrating our nation's founding is very important to me and to Whittier residents, my colleagues and I also want to be sensitive to the recent feedback we've received from some community members asking that we pause this year's Freedom Walk event,” Vinatieri said.<h2 id="">‘Canceling America’</h2>The cancelations sparked outrage for denying Americans the chance to partake in Independence Day celebrations.“They’re basically canceling America,” said Gloria Romero, a former Democratic State Senate majority leader who joined the Republican Party last year. “We are basically led by a far-left, ultra-woke, Trump Derangement Syndrome–suffering fools.”‍

California cities cancel July 4th celebrations to protect illegal aliens

'They’re basically canceling America'

The US Supreme Court hit back at a rogue federal judge who defied its pro-Trump ruling last month.On June 23rd, the high court issued a 6-3 decision granting the Trump administration the ability to deport criminal illegal aliens to countries other than their own. The decision tore down an injunction by US District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts, who had blocked the Trump administration from deporting illegals to third countries without first allowing them to raise claims under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).&nbsp;Even after the Supreme Court’s ruling, however, Judge Murphy refused to back down and insisted his injunction remained in effect. The Trump administration therefore filed a Motion for Clarification with the Supreme Court, asking it to “make clear beyond any doubt that the government can immediately proceed with the third-country removals of the criminal aliens.” The government called Judge Murphy’s decision “a lawless act of defiance that, once again, disrupts sensitive diplomatic relations and slams the brakes on the executive’s lawful efforts to effectuate third-country removals.”<h2 id="">Even a dissenting justice agrees</h2>On Thursday, the Supreme Court granted the government’s motion, clarifying that Judge Murphy had indeed defied the nation’s highest court.“[Judge Murphy’s] order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable,” the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_2co3.pdf" id="">order</a> read. Even liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who dissented in the Supreme Court’s original decision, concurred.&nbsp;“I voted to deny the Government’s previous stay application in this case, and I continue to believe that this Court should not have stayed the District Court’s April 18 order enjoining the Government from deporting non-citizens to third countries without notice or a meaningful opportunity to be heard,” Justice Kagan wrote.“But a majority of this Court saw things differently, and I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this Court has stayed,” she said.Justices Sotomayor and Jackson issued a blistering dissent.“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” Sotomayor wrote.The case centered on eight criminal illegal aliens who the Trump administration attempted to deport to South Sudan. After Judge Murphy blocked the move, the men were held at a US naval base in Djibouti, another country in East Africa, while the administration fought the decision in court.‍

Supreme Court slaps back activist judge who defied its order

Federal judge refused to back down even after SCOTUS overturned his injunction against Trump

Violent protests against American tourists and immigrants erupted in Mexico City on Friday, with rioters destroying stores and threatening foreigners.Demonstrators gathered to protest mass tourism and gentrification by Americans visiting or moving to Mexico. According to NBC, Mexico City has seen a large influx of Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Protesters railed against “gringos,” a slur that refers to Americans, and demanded tighter tourism and immigration policies.“Gringos, stop stealing our home,” read a sign worn by a protester. Another rioter was seen spray-painting the words “Kill a gringo” on a wall. Others destroyed and looted storefronts, damaged a dining area, and began screaming at foreigners in the area. Some patrons were seen huddled on the floor of a Starbucks as it was attacked by rioters. Trump effigies were burned.One demonstrator described, in Spanish, the tourists as, “[p]eople coming from other countries, mostly foreigners, who want to impose their culture [and] their prices and displace Mexicans, the native people of these lands.” A young female protester said, “I'm here because gentrification is just one more step towards colonization, dispossession, and the exploitation of our resources.”Another demonstrator claimed rent has increased by 47% in five years and blamed foreigners for Mexicans reportedly being forced to choose whether to buy food, water, or electricity.Other signs at the riots read “Not your home,” “Go home, gringo,” “Pay taxes, learn Spanish, respect my culture,” and “Death to the neocolonizer,” featuring a skull wearing an Uncle Sam hat.<div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Anti-Gentrification (Anti-Gringo) Protest in Mexico City (CDMX) 🇲🇽 A Mexican protest telling Americans to go home that happened yesterday Thread of every video or photo I found 👇 <a href="https://t.co/9oCpSllAGp">pic.twitter.com/9oCpSllAGp</a>&mdash; Iberian_America (@Iberian_America) <a href="https://twitter.com/Iberian_America/status/1941480782092210640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2 id="">‘This is EXACTLY what they have done to America’</h2>The riots sparked outrage from Americans across the border, who are often criticized as racist for protesting mass immigration from Mexico. Mexican immigration has had a degentrification effect on American cities and neighborhoods, particularly as drugs and violent gangs flow across the southern border.“This is EXACTLY what they have done to America and DESTROYED our country for decades,” Wall Street Apes fumed.<div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This is absolutely inane, you literally CAN’T MAKE THIS UP Protestors in Mexico breaking windows and rioting because “gringos, stop stealing our homes” “People coming from other countries, mostly foreigners, who want to impose their culture, their prices and displace Mexicans,… <a href="https://t.co/H4RNC8ZdQU">pic.twitter.com/H4RNC8ZdQU</a>&mdash; Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) <a href="https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/1941614579014144204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Last month, American Leftists and Mexican illegal aliens in the US rioted against tightening immigration restrictions. Carrying Mexican flags, they chanted “From Palestine to Mexico, the border walls have got to go” and “From Mexico to Gaza, globalize the intifada.” Figures on the American Left, including singer Katy Perry and legacy media activists, insisted that California belongs to Mexico—a claim repeated by Gerardo Fernández Noroña, the president of Mexico’s Senate.‍

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