DOJ prosecutor suing trans medicine whistleblower taken off case over apparent conflict of interest

The prosecutor leading the charge against transgender medicine whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim has been recused from the case after information revealed a major conflict of interest regarding her family’s involvement in the hospital system.

Haim has been the subject of an ongoing criminal case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after he leaked documents to the media that revealed Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston was performing transgender medical procedures on minors through May 2023, despite the fact that hospital leadership announced it had stopped providing sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers the year before. 

Tina Ansari, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, indicted Haim on charges that he violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patients’ health information and gives them rights over their health records. 

In a Nov. 13, 2024 letter, Haim’s lawyers notified the DOJ about what they believed to be an undisclosed conflict of interest 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” in the criminal prosecution of Dr. Haim.

Ansari’s family owns the Houston-based company Fresh Brew, which provides commercial coffee and vending contracts to hospitals, restaurants, airlines and hotels, including American Airlines, Aramark, MD Anderson, Memorial Herman and Harris Health, which contracts with BCM and TCH. The Texas Secretary of State lists Ansari as a former executive, but it is now managed by “MTDA Investments, Inc.” and it is “likely” that Ansari “retains some financial interest in the company,” Haim’s lawyers alleged in their letter to the DOJ. Ansari’s brother, Al Ansari, currently serves as president and CEO of Fresh Brew. 

Haim’s counsel reminded the DOJ that the Supreme Court 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,” according to a copy of the letter reviewed by Digital. 

On November 20, the DOJ filed under seal a motion to withdraw Ansari as counsel from the case. That same day, they filed a motion for a gag order that doesn’t include Ansari’s signature, as well as a second superseding indictment in which she is no longer listed as counsel. Then, on November 21, the federal district court granted DOJ’s motion to withdraw counsel.

JUVENILE TRANS-SURGERY WHISTLEBLOWER COMES FORWARD AFTER ‘WIPING OUT’ HIS SAVINGS TO REBUFF FED PROBE

Haim was a resident at the Baylor College of Medicine from June 2018 to June 2023 and worked at Texas Children’s Hospital during part of his residency. In a piece published in Manhattan Institute’s City Journal, Haim claimed that three days after the announcement that transgender medical procedures had stopped, a surgeon implanted a hormone device in an 11-year-old girl who was experiencing gender dysphoria. Then, over the course of the next year, Haim said multiple colleagues told him they were implanting puberty-blocking devices in transgender-identifying minors. 

DOJ prosecutors alleged that the medical records Dr. Haim sent to journalist Chris Rufo were published with children’s names, but Haim’s lawyers claim all patient information is redacted. Notably, HIPAA regulations permit the disclosure of protected information to stop egregious medical misconduct. Haim said he and his wife have spent over $200,000 fighting the DOJ. 

Between the original May 29 indictment to the second indictment on October 10, the DOJ changed some of its language, removing any mention of “HIPAA protected” information and changed the victims of the alleged harm caused by Haim’s actions from “TCH’s physicians and patients” to “TCH and its physicians.”

Haim told Digital that he believes Ansari abused her authority to exploit his vulnerability as a young surgeon, but added that now she has withdrawn from the case, perhaps she and her “sycophantic goons finally realize they went knocking on the wrong door.”

Tina’s Conflict 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, attorney for Eithan Haim, told 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, while 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 more than $400,000 for new TCH facilities. Ansari also co-sponsored two separate TCH fundraiser events, including one in May 2024, which raised over $1 million. Al, along with his aunt and uncle, Masoud and Sima Ladjevardian, were listed as sponsors. At another benefit in September 2024, which raised over $400,000, Fresh Brew and Al Ansari were listed as sponsors. 

DOJ CHARGES TEXAS DOCTOR AFTER HE BLEW THE WHISTLE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS 

Sima Ladjevardian is politically active in Houston and within the hospital system. In April 2022, she spoke at an event on April 13, 2022, where she presented a $1.1 million check to BCM President and CEO Dr. Paul Klotman and Harris Health CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa from Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia. 

Ladjevardian is an attorney and former congressional candidate for U.S. House Texas District 2, who ran on the policy of providing affordable access to health care for all. During her campaign in which she challenged Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, she was profiled by local LGBTQ magazine, OutSmart, which described her as a fundraiser for TCH and BCM and outlined her support for the 2019 Equality Act which codified “gender identity” into civil rights law. 

During the 2020 congressional run, Ladjevardian raised over $16,000 from BCM physicians and was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign. After she lost the race against Crenshaw, President Biden appointed Ladjevardian to serve as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Director for Region 6.

Since August 2023, Ladjevardian has served on the Harris Health Board of Trustees for the Harris County Health System, She serves alongside Afsheen Davis, TCH general counsel and vice president, on the Quality Committee, which oversees Harris Health’s research with affiliated academic institutions, including BCM where Haim did his residency. 

X Corp and the news outlet, Not The Bee, have both independently taken legal action, filing motions to intervene and unseal critical documents in the case, which they argue were sealed without clear justification. 

DOJ UNSEALS INDICTMENT AGAINST TEXAS DOCTOR WHO BLEW WHISTLE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR MINORS

Haim’s lawyers argue that “the government’s actions have had the dual purpose of squelching criticism of the prosecution and silencing commentary on pediatric transgender procedures,” according to their response to the gag order. 

Not The Bee and X both argued that the American public has an interest and a First Amendment right to know what the 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 motion read. 

Haim told Digital that for nearly a year, he has faced the full power of the federal government seeking first to intimidate him into silence and then make an example of him for other 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 said. “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.”

Digital reached out to Tina Ansari, Al Ansari and Sima Ladjevardian for comment. 

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‘ Brian Flood and Nate Foy contributed to this report.