U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy are accusing the Department of Justice of weaponizing the government against a whistleblower who exposed secret transgender procedures at Texas Children’s Hospital last year.
Dr. Eithan Haim was indicted by the DOJ this month on four felony counts related to alleged HIPAA violations, charges which could potentially lead to 10 years in prison, as reported by The Dallas Express. Haim leaked documents last year proving that Texas Children’s Hospital continued its transgender program after it promised to end it over legal concerns. The documents, published by City Journal, redacted individual patient information.
Sen. Cruz (R-TX) wrote a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, which is in charge of Haim’s prosecution. The senator described the investigation as a “weaponization” of the office.
“As you should know, the basis upon which this investigation was launched and the manner in which it has since been conducted invite serious questions about selective prosecution and the weaponization of the Department of Justice against political opponents,” he wrote.
Rep. Roy (R-TX) sent a letter Thursday to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing similar concerns.
“The circumstances of the Department’s actions toward Dr. Haim raise concerns that it is misusing its law-enforcement authority to advance left-wing policy goals,” he wrote. “This prosecution is just the latest example of how the Biden-Garland Justice Department is using the law to target ideological adversaries instead of equally enforcing the law.”
The DOJ did not respond to DX‘s request for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas leads Haim’s prosecution. Her office declined to comment in response to Cruz’s letter.
DX reached out to each member of the Texas Children’s Hospital leadership team for comment regarding the continuation of the transgender program at the facility they operate.
This includes Mark Wallace, CEO; Debra F. Sukin, president; Weldon Gage, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Dean Andropoulos, anesthesiologist-in-chief; Michael A. Belfort, obstetrician/gynecologist-in-chief; Larry Hollier Jr., surgeon-in-chief; Thierry Huisman, radiologist-in-chief; Lara Shekerdemian, pediatrician-in-chief; Jeffrey Shilt, community-in-chief; James Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief; Huda Zoghbi, research-in-chief; Linda Aldred, executive vice president and chief human resources officer; Myra Davis, executive vice president and chief information and innovation officer; Dan DiPrisco, executive vice president; Matt Girotto, executive vice president; Keith Nelson, executive vice president and chief investment office; Tabitha Rice, executive vice president; and Russ Williams, senior vice president.
No response has been received despite numerous requests for comment.
Cruz and Roy demanded in their letters that the DOJ offices provide specific information about Haim’s investigation. The demands include specifications about the alleged HIPAA violations, a list of people contacted about the case, and the investigation timeframe.
Roy said the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government launched an investigation into Haim’s prosecution. He included additional questions to the DOJ in his letter about claims made to his office from Haim’s lawyers. This included allegations that Ansari threatened Haim’s wife, defended transgender procedures on minors, and admitted she did not review evidence in the case, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Haim described the investigation as an intimidation tactic.
“The reason they have to come after me is to make an example out of me so other whistleblowers don’t speak out like I did,” he previously told DX. “In this case, the process is the punishment.”
“My ability to work is at risk. I may miss the birth of my first child,” he continued. “This is the punishment they want to impose in order to prevent other people from exposing the truth.”
