‘Malicious’: DOJ made false claims to prosecute whistleblower doctor, docs show
Newly unsealed court documents indicate the Department of Justice is maliciously prosecuting a Texas whistleblower surgeon who exposed a major hospital for secretly performing transgender procedures on children.
Dr. Eithan Haim blew the whistle on Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) last year for quietly operating a gender clinic for kids. Children who came to the hospital with anxiety or depression were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and administered puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. These interventions, which cause irreversible conditions like sterility, are referred to by many doctors as medical mutilation.
Haim went public with the information by partnering with journalist Christopher Rufo. He provided Rufo with documented evidence showing the hospital was performing medical mutilation procedures on children, after first redacting all identifying patient data. Dr. Haim had retrieved the documents from Epic, the hospital’s electronic medical records (EMR) system that he was authorized to access as a physician.
Shortly after the story broke, the DOJ began targeting Dr. Haim. Armed agents were sent to his home informing him he was being criminally investigated. In May, the US Attorney’s office indicted him with four counts of HIPAA privacy law violations, which carry up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Hospital: ‘Physician had approved and authorized access’
The DOJ’s entire case hinges on the accusation that Dr. Haim accessed medical records without authorization. Prosecutors claimed in the original indictment that Dr. Haim had stopped working at TCH in 2021, which would make his retrieval of patient records in 2023 a violation of HIPAA privacy laws.
But a recently unsealed letter from BakerHostetler, the law firm representing TCH, reveals that claim was untrue — and the DOJ almost certainly knew it. On August 30, 2023, BakerHostetler wrote the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), enclosing a copy of Dr. Haim’s rotation schedule from the hospital. The rotation clearly showed that Dr. Haim had worked at the hospital up to June 2023, in direct contrast to the DOJ’s claim.
Furthermore, the letter from BakerHostetler contained confirmation from TCH that Dr. Haim’s retrieval of patient records was authorized.
“The Physician had approved and authorized access to TCH’s EMR,” said TCH. At another point, the hospital added that “TCH’s policies and procedures were followed” when Dr. Haim accessed the system.
‘Shocking and malicious’
The DOJ possessed a copy of this letter before it brought the indictment, suggesting that either officials reviewed it and made false claims to the court anyway, or did not bother to review it before filing charges.
Developments in the case indicate it was the latter. In a letter to Congress, Dr. Haim’s attorneys said that Assistant US Attorney Tina Ansari, who filed the original indictment, admitted to doing so without reviewing the evidence. Furthermore, the DOJ acknowledged in a later filing that it had presented “false information” to the grand jury but did not do so “knowingly.”
"All of this is information that was in the government's possession long before they indicted Eithan," Andrea, Dr. Haim’s wife, told Fox News. "For them to then indict Eithan and say that he didn't have authorization in complete contradiction to what Texas Children's told HHS is absolutely shocking and malicious."
“There's the famous quote from Stalin's head of secret police: ‘show me the man, I’ll show you the crime,’” she wrote on X. “That’s what this case has been from the beginning. The DOJ and FBI had information in their possession that disproved their entire case all along, but ignored it in order to send a man to prison for 10 years.”
Gagged from criticizing the government
Andrea began posting updates about the case after her husband and his attorneys were placed under a de facto gag order earlier this month. The DOJ had asked Judge David Hittner to issue a gag order against Dr. Haim and his counsel, claiming their “inflammatory” public statements about the case were “problematic.” Prosecutors portrayed themselves as victims who are “content to focus on our job and to put our noses down” but are being unfairly criticized by the public. At one point, the DOJ’s lead prosecutor said that public criticism of its methods is “troubling and scary.”
Judge Hittner neither granted nor denied the DOJ’s request for a gag order. Instead, he told the parties he would keep the motion open but threatened to issue a ruling if Dr. Haim or his attorneys make any more “inflammatory” statements about the case. He made a point of reading aloud all the punishments Dr. Haim could expect if he were to violate such an order.
A court transcript of the hearing reveals that Judge Hittner used ominously vague wording, such that even the prosecution had to seek clarification. This has raised concerns that the judge is keeping his options open to punish Dr. Haim and his attorneys, who have not been given any guidelines for what constitutes “inflammatory” speech. Instead, the judge's comments suggest that Dr. Haim and his legal team would be best off self-censoring any criticism of the government.
