Hachette employees protest and quit over launch of conservative imprint

Basic Liberty, a publishing imprint launched in the wake of Trump's election win, will be helmed by Thomas Spence, an editor associated with Project 2025 thinktank The Heritage Foundation

Staff are protesting against a new US imprint of global publisher Hachette Book Group (HBG) specialising in conservative books, launched in the wake of Donald Trump's election win.

A letter from an anonymous group of HBG employees has been published on social media, criticising the launch of Basic Liberty. It also expresses concern at the hiring of executive editor Thomas Spence. Spence is the former president of conservative publisher Regnery and a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, the rightwing thinktank that coordinated the Project 2025 initiative, which sets out plans to reshape the US government and strip minorities of legal protections.