Haim allegedly illegally accessed trans patients’ records

• On February 18, 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that qualified youth gender-affirming care as child abuse, prompting Texas Children's Hospital to announce that it would stop proving such care. Although the opinion was not legally binding, the hospital released a statement announcing that it would stop prescribing gender-affirming hormone therapies. The statement, which also alluded to recent measures that Gov. Greg Abbott had taken against families of children receiving gender-affirming care, added that “this step was taken to safeguard our healthcare professionals and impacted families from potential legal ramifications.” [Office of the Attorney General of Texas, 2/18/22; American Civil Liberties Union, 2/23/22; The Washington Post, 3/8/22]
• In late spring 2023, Dr. Eithan Haim allegedly accessed the records of trans patients at Texas Children's Hospital and shared them with Manhattan Institute senior fellow Chris Rufo. Haim, a resident at Baylor College of Medicine who had previously conducted rotations at Texas Children's Hospital, shared redacted files with Rufo that allegedly demonstrated that the hospital was continuing to provide gender-affirming services to minors. [Houston Public Media, 6/10/24; U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, 6/17/24; United States District Court of the Southern District of Texas, 5/29/24]
• On May 16, 2023, Rufo published and promoted the redacted documents, without naming Haim. Rufo published the documents on his private blog and promoted the leak in the Manhattan Institute's City Journal alongside commentary urging Texas legislators to formally ban youth gender-affirming care. 
  • Rufo has since insisted that the documents were sufficiently redacted in compliance with HIPAA; however, some experts note that identifiers that would need to be removed for a  proper redaction — such as appointment dates and times — remained visible. According to local reporting, there is no evidence that Haim attempted to utilize official whistleblower channels in compliance with HIPAA, even though he was trained in how to report medical misconduct. [Christopher Rufo, 5/16/23; City Journal, 5/16/23, 6/6/24; Centers for Disease Control, 5/15/24; Assigned Media, 6/10/24; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, accessed 6/27/24; Austin American-Statesman, 6/25/24] 
• On May 19, 2023, Paxton announced an investigation into Texas Children's Hospital. The press release from Paxton's office cited “recent reports” of misconduct and his 2022 opinion. [Office of the Attorney General of Texas, 5/19/23]
• On June 2, 2023, a Texas bill restricting gender-affirming care for children was signed into law. S.B. 14 prohibited “the provision to certain children of procedures and treatments for gender transitioning, gender reassignment, or gender dysphoria” as well as “the use of public money or public assistance to provide those procedures and treatments.” The law went into effect on September 1 of that year. [Texas legislature, 6/2/23]
• On January 10, 2024, Rufo published an interview with Haim disclosing Haim’s identity. Rufo also announced that Haim was under investigation by federal prosecutors who had contacted him the previous June. [Twitter/X, 1/10/24] 
• On January 24, 2024, Haim's legal team sent a letter to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Chip Roy (R-TX) questioning the legitimacy of Tina Ansari, the federal prosecutor bringing the case against him. Roy posted the letter on X and described Haim as “the Tx Doctor being targeted by Biden’s DOJ.” [Twitter/X, 1/24/24]
• On March 9, 2024, Haim pinned a post on X (formerly Twitter) linking to a GiveSendGo page where he aimed to raise money in support of his legal defense. The link circulated on social media, garnering at least 1,900 reposts, 4,400 likes, and $888,865 in donations to date. In addition to pointing readers to Rufo's publications in City Journal, Haim alleged on his fundraising page that the investigation into his activities was “driven by a highly ideological division within the Department of Health and Human Services that aims to silence whistleblowers who expose institutionalized medical corruption and the dangers of these hormone-based interventions for confused, adolescent children,” and claimed that the fund will be used to support not only his defense but “offensive legal action against those who have abused their professional responsibility in service of radical transgender ideology.” [Twitter/X, 3/9/24; GiveSendGo 1, 2, 3, 4, accessed 6/28/24]
• On May 29, 2024, Haim was indicted for allegedly illegally accessing patient records. The indictment maintains that “Haim obtained unauthorized HIPAA protected information and intentionally contacted a media outlet to grossly mischaracterize TCH’s medical procedures in order to damage the reputation of TCH and its physicians and to promote his own personal agenda,” and it notes that this action resulted in “financial loss, medical delays in previously scheduled patients as well as threats and harm to its patients and esteemed physicians” at Texas Children's Hospital. [United States District Court of the Southern District of Texas, 5/29/24] 
• On June 17, 2024, Haim made his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Yvonne Y. Ho in Houston. The Department of Justice press release confirmed that Haim faces four counts of HIPAA violations. Haim has pleaded not guilty on all charges. [U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, 6/17/24; United States District Court of the Southern District of Texas, 5/29/24; CBS News, 6/19/24]

Right-wing media figures platformed Haim in solo interviews, where he defended himself 

Since January 2024, with the revelation of his identity, Eithan Haim has appeared as a guest alongside many prominent right-wing media figures. In these interviews Haim neither claimed to have worked directly with trans patients nor disputed sharing the documents with Chris Rufo. Instead, Haim often alleged that he was being unfairly targeted and defended his case on the grounds that the care allegedly provided at Texas Children's Hospital was harmful to pediatric patients. 

• Haim revealed his identity in an hourlong interview with Rufo. Haim defended his actions, saying, “Every kid who walks into that clinic is being told that they have to adopt this identity that’s based off hatred of their true self.” Haim also compared his prosecution to “political tyranny in other countries” and claimed, “We had reason to believe that this investigation was not being pursued in order to pursue blind justice, right? It was being pursued for ideological and political reasons.” [Twitter/X, 1/10/24]
• Haim appeared on Tucker Carlson Uncensored with Tucker Carlson. Haim told Carlson of the alleged activity at Texas Children's Hospital, “They would perpetuate the lie that either these kids have to adopt a false identity, become chronic medical patients, or they're going to kill themselves.” In his post about the interview, Carlson described youth gender-affirming care as “sexual mutilation of children.” [Twitter/X, 2/27/24] 
• Haim appeared on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle with host Laura Ingraham. In the interview, Haim alleged that Texas Children's Hospital was “taking healthy children” and turning them into “chronic medical patient[s].” When asked whether there was any doubt as to whether the prosecution was politically motivated, Haim replied that “there's no doubt, because that's what they told us.” [The Ingraham Angle, 6/10/24]
• Haim appeared on the Glenn Beck Program with Glenn Beck. Haim told Beck that he had been given the chance to “fight back against people who are destroying this country,” and claimed that the “justice system is protecting criminals, going after the innocent.” Beck encouraged viewers to donate to Haim's legal fund, posting the link on the screen throughout the conversation. [Twitter/X, 6/17/24]
• Haim appeared with Chaya Raichik, who runs the anti-LGBTQ social media account Libs of TikTok. Haim told Raichik of federal prosecutors, “They wanted to make an example out of me. They wanted to instill fear, they wanted to intimidate me.” He also claimed that he knew DOJ prosecution “was a possibility,” but that his “ethical obligation to [his] profession” and his “moral obligation … to these children” superseded “the cost.” Haim urged others to “face this corruption the moment you see it, in order to preserve our society, to preserve our profession, to preserve the ethics and dignity in the people around us.” [Twitter/X, 6/19/24]

Right-wing media figures defended Haim in social media posts and online articles 

Haim and his case have also been the subject of social media posts and online articles, many of which have alleged that he is being unfairly targeted and have defended his case on the grounds that the care allegedly provided at Texas Children's Hospital was supposedly harmful to pediatric patients. Others have directly linked to Haim's fundraiser. 

• Chris Rufo defended Haim in a post. “Dr. @EithanHaim exposed the child sex-change program at Texas Children's Hospital. Now the Biden Administration has indicted him on four felony charges. This is an outrageous political persecution—and must be resisted,” Rufo wrote. [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• Jordan Boyd defended Haim in The Federalist. The article, titled “Indictment Of Texas Doctor Who Exposed Kids’ Transing Proves No One Is Safe From Biden’s Weaponized DOJ,” went on to describe gender-affirming care as “chemical castration and other body-butchering services.” [The Federalist, 6/7/24]
• Gays Against Groomers defended Haim in a post. “Texas Children’s Hospital whistleblower, Dr. @EithanHaim, has been arrested by the DOJ. His crime? Exposing that the hospital was medically transitioning children. This is an outrage.” In a second post, the account wrote, “In a sane and moral society, @EithanHaim would be regarded as a hero by authorities and given a presidential Medal of Honor for exposing the sterilization and mutilation of children. Instead, he is being persecuted. Beyond shameful.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24, 6/7/24]
• Libs of Tiktok defended Haim in a post, alleging that Texas Children's Hospital had broken the law. “This is Dr Eithan Haim. He blew the whistle on a Texas children’s hospital breaking Texas law and performing s*x change surgeries on minors. He’s now facing criminal charges from Biden’s DOJ. Democrats continue to defend child m*tiIation and c*strat*on.” [Twitter/X, 6/9/24]
• Manhattan Institute fellow and writer Leor Sapir defended Haim in a post. “Texas gender medicine whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim (@EithanHaim) is being targeted by the federal Department of Justice.” [Twitter/X, 6/11/24]
• The editors of the National Review defended Haim. In a piece titled, “The DOJ’s Persecution of a Trans-Medicine Whistleblower,” the editors referred to the hospital's alleged continuation of its gender-affirming care program as “medically dubious” and claimed that the legal response to Haim “wouldn’t be the first time this administration has wielded executive power to intimidate its political opponents and cultural enemies.” [The National Review, 6/13/24]
• Mary Rooke defended Haim in The Daily Caller. The article, titled “Biden Cronies Target Doctor Who Blew The Whistle On Major Medical Scandal,” went on to claim that “There is no secret that the Biden administration fully supports child mutilation by the transgender cult.” [Daily Caller, 6/18/24]
• Jaime Reed responded to Rep. Dan Crenshaw's (R-TX) defense of Haim. “Thank you @DanCrenshawTX for supporting whistleblowers, we take significant risk and at great personal sacrifice. My family and I appreciate your public support of @EithanHaim.” [Twitter/X, 6/13/24, 6/13/24, 6/14/24]

Haim's trial is set to begin in August of this year. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.