The Department of Justice has not responded to allegations of malpractice in its investigation of a whistleblower from Texas Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Eithan Haim went public in January as the anonymous source in a report by activist Christopher Rufo last May that showed the hospital where he worked had continued to provide transgender hormones to minors after it promised not to do so. Texas passed a ban on transgender procedures days after the story. Haim revealed that federal agents came to his house months later to inform him he was under a federal investigation, as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
The investigation is headed by Tina Ansari of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The office did not respond to a request for comment.
Haim’s lawyers wrote a letter to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Chip Roy (R-TX) last month, detailing the alleged harassment Haim has faced from the DOJ. The letter included a series of allegations of malpractice by Ansari: she admitted she did not review evidence in the case before signing off on it, defended the use of transgender procedures on minors, threatened to hinder the legal career of Haim’s wife, and falsely claimed records leaked by Haim included the names of patients.
“Thus, either someone intentionally misrepresented this critical fact, or the investigation proceeded without anyone verifying the most basic facts about what happened,” the lawyers wrote.
The allegations are based on calls between Ansari and Haim’s legal team.
While it is common for governmental offices to decline to comment on investigations in progress, it is worth noting that the DOJ has not acknowledged or denied accusations of misconduct.
The Southern District of Texas DOJ office is headed by U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery, Criminal Division Chief Ted Imperato, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Krystal Walker, Civil Division Chief Daniel Hu, and Appellate Division Chief Carmen Mitchell.
Haim slammed the office’s investigation in an interview with The Dallas Express last month.
“They don’t even know what they’re looking for — they’re doing this to silence whistleblowers,” he said. “This seems more consistent with what happens in third-world banana republics as opposed to the United States of America.”
The Dallas Express reached out to members of the Texas Children’s Hospital board who still work for the organization based on its latest tax forms, as the hospital did not respond to requests for an updated board member list.
These members included Mark Wallace, who works as the chair, president, and CEO; Dean Andropoulos, the anesthesiologist-in-chief; Jacqueline Ward, the system chief nurse executive and senior vice president; James Versalovic, the pathologist-in-chief; Larry Hollier, the surgeon-in-chief; Mark Mullarkey, the executive vice president; Michael Belfort, the obstetrician/gynecologist-in-chief and chair of obstetrics and gynecology; Thierry Huisman, the radiologist-in-chief; and Weldon Gage, the executive vice president and CFO.
None of them responded.
