The prosecutor main the cost towards transgender medication whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim has been recused from the case after data revealed a significant battle of curiosity relating to her household’s involvement within the hospital system.
Haim has been the topic of an ongoing prison case introduced by the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) after he leaked paperwork to the media that exposed Texas Youngsters’s Hospital in Houston was performing transgender medical procedures on minors by Could 2023, even supposing hospital management introduced it had stopped offering sex-change surgical procedures and puberty blockers the 12 months earlier than.
Tina Ansari, assistant U.S. legal professional for the Southern District of Texas, indicted Haim on fees that he violated the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects sufferers’ well being data and provides them rights over their well being information.
In a Nov. 13, 2024 letter, Haim’s attorneys notified the DOJ about what they believed to be an undisclosed battle of curiosity that “Ms. Ansari’s close family members have substantial financial and political ties to third parties in this case, Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), who may constitute victims and witnesses” within the prison prosecution of Dr. Haim.
Eithan Haim (Eithan Haim)
Ansari’s household owns the Houston-based firm Recent Brew, which offers industrial espresso and merchandising contracts to hospitals, eating places, airways and inns, together with American Airways, Aramark, MD Anderson, Memorial Herman and Harris Well being, which contracts with BCM and TCH. The Texas Secretary of State lists Ansari as a former government, however it’s now managed by “MTDA Investments, Inc.” and it’s “likely” that Ansari “retains some financial interest in the company,” Haim’s attorneys alleged of their letter to the DOJ. Ansari’s brother, Al Ansari, presently serves as president and CEO of Recent Brew.
Haim’s counsel reminded the DOJ that the Supreme Court docket has established that “federal prosecutors are prohibited from representing the Government in any matter in which they, their family, or their business associates have any interest,” based on a duplicate of the letter reviewed by Fox Information Digital.
On November 20, the DOJ filed underneath seal a movement to withdraw Ansari as counsel from the case. That very same day, they filed a movement for a gag order that does not embody Ansari’s signature, in addition to a second superseding indictment during which she is not listed as counsel. Then, on November 21, the federal district courtroom granted DOJ’s movement to withdraw counsel.
Haim was a resident on the Baylor Faculty of Medication from June 2018 to June 2023 and labored at Texas Youngsters’s Hospital throughout a part of his residency. In a chunk revealed in Manhattan Institute’s Metropolis Journal, Haim claimed that three days after the announcement that transgender medical procedures had stopped, a surgeon implanted a hormone machine in an 11-year-old woman who was experiencing gender dysphoria. Then, over the course of the subsequent 12 months, Haim mentioned a number of colleagues instructed him they have been implanting puberty-blocking gadgets in transgender-identifying minors.
DOJ prosecutors alleged that the medical information Dr. Haim despatched to journalist Chris Rufo have been revealed with youngsters’s names, however Haim’s attorneys declare all affected person data is redacted. Notably, HIPAA rules allow the disclosure of protected data to cease egregious medical misconduct. Haim mentioned he and his spouse have spent over $200,000 combating the DOJ.
Between the unique Could 29 indictment to the second indictment on October 10, the DOJ modified a few of its language, eradicating any point out of “HIPAA protected” data and altered the victims of the alleged hurt brought on by Haim’s actions from “TCH’s physicians and patients” to “TCH and its physicians.”
Haim instructed Fox Information Digital that he believes Ansari abused her authority to use his vulnerability as a younger surgeon, however added that now she has withdrawn from the case, maybe she and her “sycophantic goons finally realize they went knocking on the wrong door.”
Tina’s Battle Map (Eithan Haim)
“After over a year of Ms. Ansari’s troubling behavior, including prosecuting Dr. Haim without a law license, it was finally a bridge too far when it was revealed that she failed to disclose that her close family members have substantial financial and political ties to the hospitals involved in this case,” Marcella Burke, legal professional for Eithan Haim, instructed Fox Information Digital. “The Department of Justice owes the public and our client an explanation for why Ms. Ansari was terminated from the case, the troubling conduct of this investigation and prosecution, and the ongoing weaponization of the federal government against Dr. Haim.”
Notably, in 2023, whereas the investigation into Haim was ongoing, Al Ansari attended a TCH “VIP reception” fundraiser hosted by newly named TCH President and now-CEO Dr. Debra Sukin, which raised greater than $400,000 for brand new TCH amenities. Ansari additionally co-sponsored two separate TCH fundraiser occasions, together with one in Could 2024, which raised over $1 million. Al, alongside along with his aunt and uncle, Masoud and Sima Ladjevardian, have been listed as sponsors. At one other profit in September 2024, which raised over $400,000, Recent Brew and Al Ansari have been listed as sponsors.
DOJ CHARGES TEXAS DOCTOR AFTER HE BLEW THE WHISTLE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS
Sima Ladjevardian is politically energetic in Houston and throughout the hospital system. In April 2022, she spoke at an occasion on April 13, 2022, the place she offered a $1.1 million verify to BCM President and CEO Dr. Paul Klotman and Harris Well being CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa from Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia.
Ladjevardian is an legal professional and former congressional candidate for U.S. Home Texas District 2, who ran on the coverage of offering reasonably priced entry to well being take care of all. Throughout her marketing campaign during which she challenged Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, she was profiled by native LGBTQ journal, OutSmart, which described her as a fundraiser for TCH and BCM and outlined her assist for the 2019 Equality Act which codified “gender identity” into civil rights legislation.
In the course of the 2020 congressional run, Ladjevardian raised over $16,000 from BCM physicians and was endorsed by the Human Rights Marketing campaign. After she misplaced the race towards Crenshaw, President Biden appointed Ladjevardian to function the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) Regional Director for Area 6.
Since August 2023, Ladjevardian has served on the Harris Well being Board of Trustees for the Harris County Well being System, She serves alongside Afsheen Davis, TCH common counsel and vp, on the High quality Committee, which oversees Harris Well being’s analysis with affiliated tutorial establishments, together with BCM the place Haim did his residency.
X Corp and the information outlet, Not The Bee, have each independently taken authorized motion, submitting motions to intervene and unseal essential paperwork within the case, which they argue have been sealed with out clear justification.
DOJ UNSEALS INDICTMENT AGAINST TEXAS DOCTOR WHO BLEW WHISTLE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS
Haim’s attorneys argue that “the government’s actions have had the dual purpose of squelching criticism of the prosecution and silencing commentary on pediatric transgender procedures,” based on their response to the gag order.
Not The Bee and X each argued that the American public has an curiosity and a First Modification proper to know what the federal government is prosecuting.
“Stripped of its rhetoric, the Government’s Motion for an order gagging the public speech of Defendant Eithan Haim and his counsel seeks to accomplish one goal: to suppress public reaction to the Government’s use (or abuse) of prosecutorial discretion in this action,” the X movement learn.
Haim instructed Fox Information Digital that for practically a 12 months, he has confronted the total energy of the federal authorities in search of first to intimidate him into silence after which make an instance of him for different whistleblowers.
“Speaking out publicly and through my attorneys was my only defense. Now that I am in court, I am glad to have the opportunity to put this story into the judicial record, too,” he mentioned. “I am grateful to X Corp. and Not the Bee for supporting my right to speak out and the many others who have helped me, including the countless members of the public who have contributed to my defense. We will succeed in stopping the government from abusing whistleblowers and doctors from abusing children.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to Tina Ansari, Al Ansari and Sima Ladjevardian for remark.
Fox Information’ Brian Flood and Nate Foy contributed to this report.
