WATCH: Dems spar with whistleblower who exposed children's hospital for performing trans surgeries on minors
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee grilled whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim this week over his criticism of transgender medical treatments, months after the Biden Justice Department dropped criminal charges against him.
During a Wednesday hearing titled "Ending Lawfare Against Whistleblowers Who Protect Children," Haim defended his decision to leak documents to the media, revealing that Texas Children's Hospital in Houston performed transgender medical procedures on minors through May 2023.
"I wouldn't want this to be done to anyone, not even liberals, even if they're the craziest communists ever," Haim said during the hearing. "There's no one in this country who should be falsely accused and the entire power of the federal government be brought down on them."
At one point during the hearing, ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., questioned Haim's lawyer, Mark Lytle, about the precedent behind Haim's case, drawing a comparison to a hypothetical scenario involving vaccination records for measles.
"If I'm in Texas, and there's a law requiring children to get measles vaccines, and I learn that another doctor's patients aren't vaccinated, does that give me the right to access their medical records and release them to the media or an ideological group?" Raskin asked.
"Dr. Haim didn't break into any systems," Lytle responded. "He was authorized to see these records by Texas Children's Hospital, and the prosecutor knew that."
"Was he authorized to release the information?" Raskin asked.
"He was because he was a whistleblower, and he was reporting wrongdoing," Lytle said.
Raskin asked Lytle to explain why Haim "did not follow Texas State law and go to the Department of Social Services or another medical authority or law enforcement authority" and instead "went to an ideological organization in the media."
Lytle responded that Haim went to the Texas Attorney General's office as well as the media, adding, "Congress favors going to the media for whistleblowers."
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., asked Haim whether the charges against him were "a case of the administration using weaponizing law enforcement to intimidate you and other dissenters."
"There has to be a certain standard with our justice system, where people can't just bring these charges and power through the courts and send these people to prison, because that's what was going to happen to me," Haim said.
Cline also asked Lytle whether the federal government treats whistleblowers differently depending on who's in office.
"This case is an example of that," Lytle said. "It's extremely rare for anyone to be charged with criminal HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] violations, let alone the maximum 10-year charge. It's really outrageous, and the fact that he was charged in this way shows that the prosecutor was out to get him. He was biased."
Later in the hearing, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., further pressed Haim about releasing the medical records, asking whether children and their families should worry about their private information being released.
"When children are being mutilated and sterilized," Haim said, adding that personal information, like the names of the patients, was not included.
Haim, a surgeon formerly affiliated with Texas Children's Hospital, was indicted on federal charges last year for allegedly accessing and sharing private medical records of minors receiving transgender medical procedures.
Haim's whistleblower report occurred during a transitional period in Texas' policies regarding transgender treatments for minors. In March 2022, Texas Children's Hospital announced it would stop such services to children following Gov. Greg Abbott's directive to investigate such treatments as potential child abuse. The hospital later resumed these services after determining compliance with existing laws. In June 2024, the Texas Supreme Court upheld Senate Bill 14, which prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, with the law taking effect on Sept. 1, 2024.
DOJ prosecutors claimed Haim obtained these records under false pretenses, violating the HIPAA and providing them to the media to harm the hospital's reputation. Facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Haim pleaded not guilty, arguing that no personally identifiable information was disclosed and that he was blowing the whistle on "child abuse" in the hospital.
In January, the DOJ dismissed the case "with prejudice," preventing future prosecution on the same grounds. Four days later, President Donald Trump signed the "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation" executive order, suspending federal funds for gender-transition procedures for minors, including coverage under Medicaid.
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