The Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) wants to place a gag order on a Texas surgeon accused of blowing the whistle on a hospital that performs gender reassignment surgeries on minors.
Ministry of Justice claimed On Wednesday, Dr. Ethan Heim's discussion of his case regarding Prosecutors cited Heim's posts highlighting the judge's harsh criticism of the government's actions during last week's hearing.
During Friday's hearing, Judge David Hittner, an appointee of President Reagan, pressed prosecutors on why they included language in the indictment that was not in the original law, records show. (Related: Biden administration prosecutors pursue whistleblower lawsuit over child sex reassignment surgery, applying license suspension law)
“It is clear that the government did not proofread or review the superseding indictment to prevent these mistakes, but are you going to file another superseding indictment?” the judge asked.
Heim Posted section of transcript In X, the Justice Department wrote that it was “utterly baffled and difficult to understand why this is continuing.”
As if it couldn't get any worse, the Department of Justice filed a motion for a gag order.
This was done after I exercised my First Amendment right to discuss the public record of last week's hearing.
The very hearing that the Department of Justice conducted thoroughly… pic.twitter.com/sXofT1iXGD
— Ethan Haim, MD (@EithanHaim) November 21, 2024
Heim wrote to X that the gag order request targets “the First Amendment right to discuss the public record of last week's public hearing.”
“They believe they can blackmail me into silence because I'm just a normal guy,” he said. I wrote “But my freedom to speak outweighs their desire to cover up their corruption.”(Related article: 'Silence will not be tolerated': Surgeon indicted by Biden Justice Department for blowing the whistle on child sex reassignment)
The gag order motion also targets Mr. Heim's lawyer, Marcella Burke, and accounts related to X are currently listed as something that doesn't exist. Burke similarly criticized the government's actions in a post on Wednesday, but this is no longer a criticism. available.
Prosecutors noted in a filing to the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct that attorneys should not make public statements that are “substantially likely to materially affect a court proceeding.”
The Justice Department indicted Heim in June for allegedly violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects the disclosure of personal health information.
In 2023, Heim provided journalist Christopher Rufo with documents proving wrongdoing at Texas Children's Hospital. Ongoing Performing gender reassignment procedures on minors after publicly stating that the program has been closed. Rufo is said The documents Heim provided contained no personally identifying information.
U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari, the federal prosecutor investigating the case against Heim, also filed documents in September while his law license was suspended. She was suspended for not paying her dues, which she paid after the defense clarified her status in filings.
Haim's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
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