Just last week, Dr. Eithan Haim came days away from going to federal prison — and he has no regrets.

As federal prosecutors prepared to accelerate the now-dismissed criminal case against the Texas Children’s Hospital whistleblower, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department stepped in just in time.

On Friday, the Justice Department’s new leadership dropped the second superseding indictment against the surgeon, who the Biden Justice Department had accused of violating the privacy of patients protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The only problem is he didn’t.

Haim disclosed carefully redacted medical records in May 2023, showing that Texas Children’s physicians were surgically inserting hormonal devices into gender-dysphoric pediatric patients as part of the hospital’s transgender program. No individually identifiable health information was unethically revealed. Furthermore, he exposed that the Houston-based hospital was secretly continuing trans medical procedures in violation of Texas law after it had supposedly ended them.

Haim felt it was his moral obligation to tell the truth, even if he was punished for his actions.

“In the very beginning, I knew if I was gonna blow the whistle that we’d have to go fully in no matter the consequences,” Haim told National Review. “I asked my wife, ‘Is this something you’re willing to die for?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ too. It sounds kind of hyperbolic, but that was the only way we would do it.”

Before the charges were dismissed with prejudice, the surgeon faced a decade in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum fine for the alleged HIPAA violations.

If Trump’s Justice Department hadn’t dismissed the case in time, it’s possible Haim would have been prematurely jailed over the weekend and gone to an early trial.

Haim and his wife, Andrea, were ecstatic, to say the least, when they learned of the dismissal on Friday.

“We took on the federal leviathan under the greatest odds possible. We won, we suffered, and we paid the price. But we never gave up, and we never gave in,” Haim told NR.

Likewise, his lead defense attorney was relieved. “This fully vindicates Dr. Haim,” Marcella Burke of Burke Law Group said.

Haim’s trial date was previously scheduled for February 10, but the former defendant revealed the jury trial could have started as early as this Monday because he was accused of violating a de facto gag order.

In December, Judge David Hittner, whose jurisdiction lies in the Southern District of Texas, warned Haim would be placed under a gag order if he continued posting about his case on social media. The prosecutors alleged the whistleblower posted “inflammatory language” and engaged in “online bullying” that targeted their own attorneys. They would have likely employed the same argument if the trial proceeded.

In the event of future violations, Hittner warned Haim would be sent to a federal jail, and his bond would be revoked if he continued posting “inflammatory language” about the charges and prosecutors. Haim argued he was exercising his First Amendment rights but agreed to the judge’s terms.

Hittner didn’t issue a formal gag order at the time, priding himself on the fact that he had never issued one in his decades-long career as a federal judge. However, the judge said he wouldn’t “hesitate to reconsider” such an order.

Hittner never imposed a formal gag order, even when Haim aired his grievances online last week. But the judge still threatened jail time.

After President Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office ending the Biden administration’s weaponization of the federal government against its perceived political opponents, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Jennifer Lowery, was still moving forward with the politically motivated prosecution. By posting about his own case, Haim decided to call the judge’s bluff.

“There was a part of me that really didn’t believe it, but I was wrong. This guy was legitimately going to send me to jail,” he said of Hittner.

Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), who personally called acting U.S. Attorney General James McHenry to drop the prosecution, confirmed to the Daily Wire that an arrest warrant was in the works. Luckily, the case was dismissed before the court could issue a warrant.

Haim wondered how many other people were wrongfully imprisoned because of judges like Hittner.

“You might have innocent people in prison today because they’ve been railroaded by someone like Hittner,” who “carries the appearance of legitimacy,” Haim said, calling the Reagan-appointed judge a “criminal thug.”

He has expressed similarly strong words toward Tina Ansari, the former lead prosecutor who withdrew from the case, presumably because of her apparent conflicts of interest. Ansari provided no explanation for her withdrawal, but her family had existing financial ties to Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine, two interested parties in the then-ongoing case.

Haim was completing his surgical residency at Baylor College when he blew the whistle.

Moreover, Ansari was suspended by the State Bar of Texas after her law license expired for a brief period of time due to outstanding bar dues. She ultimately resolved the issue and continues to practice law in Texas.

Haim holds Ansari, former U.S. attorney Alamdar Hamdani, and three other officials responsible for leading the investigation into him.

He hopes the Trump administration will punish the Southern District of Texas prosecutors for bringing the charges against him. The practicing surgeon suggested they should be fired, disbarred, or arrested if they were found to have conspired with Texas Children’s or Baylor College to manufacture evidence against him.

On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to prohibit gender transitions for everyone under 19, defund any medical institutions that engage in trans procedures, and issue new guidance that protects whistleblowers in the healthcare industry. Being one of those whistleblowers, Haim responded positively to the order.

“They’re going to keep the door open for medical whistleblowers, and that’s a very important door to stay open” because the repercussions they face “are very severe and can result in very long prison sentences,” Haim said of Trump’s order.

However, he does caution that the executive action will only cause health-care providers specializing in transgender medicine to conceal the procedures by using fraudulent billing codes. He said the order would protect whistleblowers like Vanessa Sivadge, who in June 2024 exposed that Texas Children’s committed Medicaid fraud to cover the costs of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for minors. A nurse, Sivadge was eventually fired for coming forward.

“It’s an indication that Trump is truly the type of person who delivers on the things he says,” Haim added about the order. “This should represent a win for all of us, but we should also start moving the goalposts because a true win is when the people who are responsible for [transitioning children] are in orange jumpsuits and sitting behind bars.”

David Zimmermann is a news writer for National Review. Originally from New Jersey, he is a graduate of Grove City College and currently writes from Washington, D.C. His writing has appeared in the Washington Examiner, the Western Journal, Upward News, and the College Fix. @dezward01

Reprinted with Permission from National Review – By David Zimmermann

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