Politics
DOJ indictment against Texas doctor has 'serious free speech concerns,' health care defense attorney warns
Dr. Eithan Haim, the Texas physician who admits to having leaked hospital records alleging that doctors were performing transgender medical procedures on children and has pleaded not guilty to four felony counts related to the disclosure, has vowed to fight the charges and considers himself a whistleblower – albeit one who could spend a decade behind bars.
While Haim said he is trying to remain positive and contends that federal trials “are unpredictable,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) is rarely bested and boasts a 99.6% conviction rate. Still, Haim views the legal battle ahead of him as a necessary one.
“Doctors and nurses are the last pillar holding up this whole house of cards,” he told Fox News Digital. “Once that falls, these people are going to have to face a reckoning of the consequences of their actions that they had participated in and proliferated the greatest medical crime in human history.”
DOJ UNSEALS INDICTMENT AGAINST TEXAS DOCTOR WHO BLEW WHISTLE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS
Dr. Eithan Haim has been charged by the Department of Justice after exposing gender transition procedures for minors at Texas Children’s Hospital. (Screenshot/X | Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Health care defense attorney Ron Chapman also believes Haim has a strong case on freedom of speech grounds, since the leaked documents were of public interest amid a major ongoing cultural clash.
“It’s got serious free speech concerns when we see that the purpose was to produce information to the public, because he probably didn’t trust the Department of Justice for this information,” he said. “That’s why he didn’t send it to them. He trusted the press, and so I think that there’s a pretty significant free speech defense here.”
Chapman said it also appears as if the government is going out of its way to prosecute Haim. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) lacks criminal penalties for violations and falls under the purview of the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Justice for investigation. Infractions typically result in fines being levied against hospitals or facilities.
“While the government may technically have the ability to prove the elements here because of the nature of the access, I think there are going to be a lot of very solid defense arguments in this case that the intent was not for an unlawful purpose, that there was no attempt to make money off of this or scam anybody, but it was for a legitimate public concern, and that really should be for First Amendment protected conduct,” Chapman said.
PARENTS GROUP REACT TO STUDY SHOWING PUBERTY BLOCKERS COULD CAUSE PERMANENT PROBLEMS IN BOYS: ‘UNFORGIVABLE’
Transgender surgical procedures and treatments for children have been protected in some states, while others have outlawed them. (Getty Images)
But statutes signed this year by President Biden could prove a significant obstacle.
Biden signed an executive order in April that protects Americans’ personal information. The order was intended as part of the effort to stomp out the popular social media app TikTok amid a raft of national security concerns. But Chapman said, “When there’s that regulation in existence, unauthorized access without specific permission then becomes a crime.”
“You have just created a behemoth that can target any individual who decides to shed light on something, and openness should be the goal of our country, not silos and secrecy,” he added. “I still remain very concerned that this is something that even resulted in federal criminal charges, much less multiple federal criminal charges with such drastic consequences.”
The DOJ unsealed the indictment against Haim on Monday. The charges were related to HIPAA violations stemming from Haim’s allegations that the Texas Children’s Hospital was secretly conducting transgender procedures and treatments on minors.
The previously sealed indictment, filed May 29 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, accused Haim of attempting to re-activate his login credentials under false pretenses after they had expired due to a lack of activity.
The indictment by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani alleges that Haim “obtained unauthorized individually identifiable health HIPAA protected information on pediatric patients” and “caused malicious harm to TCH, pediatric patients at TCH and its physicians by contacting a media contact.”
If found guilty, Haim could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in federal prison. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000.
BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL DIRECTOR CALLS FOR DRASTIC INCREASE IN CAPACITY FOR GENDER SURGERIES FOR MINORS
Dr. Eithan Haim says the hospital was secretly continuing with gender-affirming care procedures despite claiming the program would be dissolved. (The Ingraham Angle/Screengrab)
The indictment accuses Haim of illegally accessing personal information from the hospital’s electronic system. This included patient names, treatment codes and attending physicians. Through the documents, Haim said he discovered that the Houston-based children’s hospital was continuing to perform transgender medical procedures – such as those involving implantable puberty blockers – according to the original report.
The children’s hospital in 2022 said it would cease performing transgender procedures on children. That announcement came after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said some of the medical interventions could be considered child abuse under state law. The hospital did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Haim, who said he has refused to take a plea agreement, told Fox News Digital that he was first approached at his door by FBI agents in June 2023. During the course of the next six months, Haim said he decided to take the case public.
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“The problem is that if you legitimize this corruption in this process, then you shut the door for every other whistleblower in the country within the health care system,” Haim said. “But with that choice, you empower these individuals, because you grant them the legitimacy which they do not deserve, right?
“So, even though the stakes are the highest possible stakes – my freedom – when you consider it in those terms, of course it’s what we have to do. Because the alternative is something to be so much more afraid of.”
Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
Politics
Police rush to SCOTUS justice’s home amid rising threats against conservatives — but report quickly unravels
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Police responded to a “swatting call” at the residence of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in Virginia on Wednesday evening, police confirmed, marking the latest security scare involving a conservative public figure.
“Yesterday evening at approximately 9:02 p.m., officers responded to a swatting call at the residence of U.S. Supreme Court Justice in Fairfax County,” a Fairfax County Police Department public information officer told Fox News Digital on Thursday when asked about reports concerning the incident at Coney Barrett’s home.
Fairfax police responded to Barrett’s home after they received a call through the department’s non-emergency line, then met with the justice’s security detail, who confirmed the report was “fictitious,” the officer told Fox News Digital.
The incident comes amid years of heightened threats against Supreme Court justices, including protests outside conservative justices’ homes after the leaked Dobbs draft opinion in 2022 showing the court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the arrest near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home of a California man who was later charged with attempted murder.
FBI INVESTIGATING RISE IN SWATTING INCIDENTS AFTER SEVERAL CONSERVATIVES TARGETED, KASH PATEL SAYS
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was targeted in a swatting incident at home Wednesday evening. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious. No additional police resources were utilized,” the police department said.
Swatting calls target an individual by calling in a false police report for crimes — such as a murder, a hostage situation, bomb threats or active shooters that would require a greater law enforcement response — to the home of the target.
A partial audio recording of the police audio surfaced on X on Thursday that reported a “call came in for sounds of gunshots.” Law enforcement can be heard saying there was a “suspicious noise” at a 24-hour security coverage for a “high-priority resident” of the county.
FROM RALLY GUNFIRE TO WHITE HOUSE SHOOTING, THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUE TO MOUNT
Barrett was on the bench Thursday morning alongside her colleagues, and read aloud summaries of two opinions she authored. Barrett made no mention of the Wednesday incident in her bench remarks.
“Swatting is an attempt to get an innocent person killed—in this case, a sitting Supreme Court Justice,” posted Republican Utah Sen, Mike Lee on X as reports of the incident surfaced Thursday. “The proper response will be putting the offender in prison for many, many years.”
Police officers watch abortion-rights advocates demonstrate outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, Md., on May 18, 2022. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
MIKE DAVIS: THE SUPREME COURT BETRAYED AGAIN — THIS TIME FROM THE BENCH
The leaked Dobbs draft opinion became a lightning rod for protests, with abortion-rights activists demonstrating outside the homes of Barrett, Kavanaugh and other members of the court’s conservative majority.
In June 2022, Californian Nicholas John Roske was charged with attempted murder for making violent threats against Kavanaugh while carrying a gun, knife and pepper spray near the justice’s home. He was later sentenced to eight years behind bars.
Attacks on conservative leaders have been on the rise, most recently targeting the commander in chief, including just in April at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Protesters gathered near the home of Justice Barrett. (Fox News)
There were two public assassination attempts on Trump’s life in 2024, beginning in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his ear after a gunman climbed onto a roof during a rally on July 13, 2024.
Earlier this month, a California Army veteran known for his display of “Make America Great Again” memorabilia and American flags outside his residence, dubbed the “Trump House,” was attacked and beaten to death.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Supreme Court for comment.
Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Politics
Bari Weiss shakes up ‘60 Minutes’ with a new executive producer; Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi exit
The venerable news magazine “60 Minutes” is undergoing a major overhaul under CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss, who hired a new executive producer and ousted two correspondents.
Weiss announced Thursday the appointment of a new executive producer to replace Tanya Simon, a 26-year veteran of the program who took over the top job in July. She will be replaced by Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist and documentary filmmaker.
Weiss also fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, who clashed with her boss over a segment on President Trump’s immigration policies, and Cecilia Vega, who joined the program in 2023.
Bilton will be the first executive producer in the 58-year history of “60 Minutes” to come from outside the tightly-knit organization. The program has only had four leaders in its history — Don Hewitt, Jeff Fager, Bill Owens and Simon — all of whom came up through the ranks of CBS News.
Weiss is said to have developed a solid relationship with Simon, whose late father Bob Simon was a highly respected correspondent for the program. But the connection apparently deteriorated after Weiss did not receive advance notice of Anderson Cooper’s sign-off from the program, ending his nearly 20-year run as a correspondent.
Cooper, who is also a full-time anchor at CNN, turned down a new “60 Minutes” deal from Weiss. During his final appearance, he expressed fears about the editorial independence of the program.
Tanya Simon is being replaced as executive producer of “60 Minutes.”
(Michele Crowe / CBS News)
“Things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome, and things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what ’60 Minutes’ is always remains,” Anderson told viewers. “I think the independence of ’60 Minutes’ has been critical.”
Speculation over changes at “60 Minutes,” the most-watched news program on television for 52 consecutive years, have been swirling for months since Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison installed Weiss to oversee editorial content at CBS News.
The program has been in turmoil since October 2024, when President Trump filed a $20-billion lawsuit against CBS over an interview conducted with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. That suit was settled to clear the regulatory path for Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount.
But from a business standpoint, “60 Minutes” is a curious target for a revamp. The program is one of the most profitable hours on the CBS prime-time schedule while retaining its status as television’s most prestigious journalism operation. While the ratings for “60 Minutes” get a boost from a lead-in from high-rated NFL late-afternoon games, it remains one of the few network shows that viewers make an appointment to watch.
The segment that doomed Alfonsi, “Inside CECOT,” detailed the Trump administration’s treatment of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported to an El Salvador prison known for its harsh conditions. The segment was scheduled to run Dec. 21 but was pulled the day before air by Weiss, who believed it needed more reporting, including a direct response from the administration, which did not participate.
Alfonsi, the “60 Minutes” correspondent who worked for months on the piece, protested the move by Weiss, calling it politically motivated in an email she sent to colleagues.
The story eventually ran on Jan. 18 without any substantial changes to its tone or reporting. Weiss acknowledged internally that pulling the segment after it had already been promoted was a mistake.
But Alfonsi said publicly that she fully expected to be let go from the program. Her contract ended with the recently concluded TV season.
Alfonsi first joined as a correspondent by CBS News in 2002. She left for ABC News in 2008 but returned to CBS in 2013 and joined the flagship edition of “60 Minutes” in 2015.
Politics
RFK Jr. responds to snake-handling critics with new video showing him wrangling a venomous rattlesnake
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared another snake-handling video Wednesday after social media users raised concerns over his earlier encounter with a pair of black racer snakes.
Kennedy Jr. posted an Instagram video captioned, “In response to the many comments about venomous snakes, this video shows how Cheryl and I handled a recent rattlesnake rescue.”
The clip begins with Kennedy Jr. sitting in his home office before someone alerts him to a snake in the driveway.
“Hold on, guys. I’ll be back in a flash,” he says before grabbing a bucket and a small net and heading outside.
RFK JR BAREHANDS A PAIR OF SNAKES ON DR. OZ’S PATIO IN WILD VIDEO
RFK Jr. wrangles a Western Diamondback rattlesnake during a rescue video shared to Instagram Wednesday. (Instagram/RFKJr.)
The HHS secretary then carefully scoops up the rattlesnake as onlookers react in amazement.
After placing the snake in a bucket, Kennedy Jr. later pins it behind the head and lifts it toward the camera while explaining how to identify the reptile.
“His fangs are in there. I don’t want to touch them,” he said. “This is a beautiful snake. This is a Western Diamondback. You can tell by these rings at the end of his tail.”
Kennedy Jr. then asked his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, to bring him a pillowcase before transporting and releasing the snake back into the wild.
ACTRESS CHERYL HINES CLASHES WITH ‘THE VIEW’ OVER HER HUSBAND RFK JR’S RECORD SERVING AMERICANS
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proudly displays a pair of black North American racer snakes he caught on Dr. Oz’s patio. (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)
The Instagram post appeared to respond directly to criticism and concern sparked by another snake video Kennedy Jr. shared Tuesday on X.
In that clip, Kennedy Jr. grabbed two black North American racer snakes with his bare hands while visiting Dr. Mehmet Oz’s patio as Hines watched in apparent horror.
“Honey, honey … why?” Hines yelled as Kennedy Jr. cornered the snakes.
Kennedy Jr. then lunged at the reptiles and eventually lifted both by their tails as they repeatedly bit his hands.
CHERYL HINES SHARES HARROWING EVACUATION FROM WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER AS GUNSHOTS RANG OUT
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines attend the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. (Taylor Hill/WireImage)
“Black snakes, they’re biting me,” Kennedy Jr. said with a smile.
The snakes continued striking at his hands as Hines pleaded, “Bobby, please! Bobby, Bobby, please,” before later telling him, “You are nuts.”
Kennedy Jr. later posted the video to X with the caption, “Cheryl cheerleads the removal of a pair of Black Racers from Dr Oz’s patio.”
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, black racer snakes are nonvenomous and generally harmless to humans, though they will “readily bite to defend themselves.”
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The earlier video showed Kennedy Jr. handling nonvenomous snakes, while Wednesday’s Instagram clip focused on a venomous Western Diamondback rattlesnake, prompting some social media users to question whether the HHS secretary was taking unnecessary risks.
Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy contributed to this report.
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