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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
The subcommittee will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. We welcome everybody to today's hearing on ending lawfare against whistleblowers. I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. The rule of law demands equal application without fear or favor. That's why we find ourselves here again today to continue our work to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for their weaponization and political prosecution against their perceived adversaries. Over the past four years, we witnessed the Department of Justice be weaponized against parents, traditionalist Catholics, and peaceful pro-life protesters and grandmothers. Take, for example, two of our witnesses here today, Dr. Ethan Heim and Vanessa Sivage, whistleblowers who revealed that their employer, the Texas Children's Hospital in my home state, was performing transgender medical interventions on minors. the largest children's hospital in the country, was shamefully involved in manipulating, mutilating, and sterilizing young, confused adolescent children with life-altering procedures in the name of gender transition. This was despite its public statements declaring they paused these harmful procedures in light of the Texas Attorney General's opinion deeming these experiments to be child abuse. Yet the Biden-Harris Department of Justice subsequently charged Dr. Heim with HIPAA violations, for protecting patients by releasing documents detailing this abuse, despite all personally identifiable information having been carefully redacted.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_15)
Dr. Heim faced penalties of up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Here, the HIPAA statute merely became one more tool that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice engineered in its years-long crusade against political dissenters instead of equally enforcing the law. Key to all of this was DOJ's lead prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Tina Ansari. Serious ethical questions stemmed related to Ms. Ansari's prosecution of Dr. Haim, including allegedly presenting knowingly false information to a grand jury in order to secure an initial indictment, threatening employment retaliation against Dr. Haim's wife as a form of intimidation. Failing to disclose her substantial financial ties to Texas Children's Hospital through her family's commercial coffee company. Not divulging having family members previously on the hospital's board of directors. Attending a VIP reception at a hospital fundraiser while the case was pending. Practicing law despite her law license having been suspended by the Texas Bar for failure to pay bar dues. Though Ansari was eventually removed from the case, serious questions remain about the DOJ's commitment to providing American citizens with a fair trial. The Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Health and Human Services Division abused their enforcement authority to advance left-wing policy goals and coerce whistleblowers to keep their mouths shut. Where agencies serve to protect the financial incentives of American hospitals by prosecuting health care workers who dare expose the barbaric performance of transgender medical care on minors. When the left captures institutions, those who dissent can face legal expenses, reputational damage, and harassment, all of which deter future whistleblowers from coming forward. Here, prosecution itself becomes the punishment. And Dr. Heim's prosecution raises questions about the DOJ's propriety and the use of federal resources to wage culture wars, highlighting the emboldened behavior of the judicial branch.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_15)
And I find this particularly disturbing to me personally, having served as an assistant United States attorney. This is not what the Department of Justice is supposed to do. where rogue prosecutors and judges knowingly sponsor falsities and hide conflicts of interest in order to harass an individual for holding a disfavored view. These individuals wielding political power continue to be a primary threat to our institutions and personal freedoms. Therefore, this hearing touches upon two tragedies, weaponization of government against innocent civilians who did the right thing, and harmful life-altering medical procedures against innocent children and parents, all so that hospitals and medical providers can profit. While the Trump administration rightfully ended the prosecution of Dr. Heim, that's not enough. The American people deserve to know that they will not face prosecution on the basis of their political views or which administration is in power. It is long past time for Congress to address this weaponization, investigating the extent of such DOJ partisanship, publicly exposing how it came to be brought, and ensuring hospitals are not secretly inflicting irreversible damage on children. We must identify rogue prosecutors, permanently removing them from their positions. Our agencies must no longer be seen as a safe harbor to weaponize authority. The message from this Congress and the Trump administration must be clear. Abuse of authority will not be tolerated. You will be held accountable. While we must act to reverse these wrongful prosecutions, it is not merely enough to end the Biden-era discrimination. We must ensure that the left is never again able to capture our institutions for future weaponization, ensuring Americans will not find themselves as collateral damage. I think our witnesses know these abuses all too well for being here today to address the need for fundamental and permanent reforms of the Department of Justice. And I'd only add one final concluding remarks. We had a witness last year, Chloe Cole, who gave passionate testimony in this room about the impact on her life, her personal ability to bear children in the future and be a mom, all because of the pressures being brought to bear by this politicization of this personal issues that have been taken away from parents and families
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Unknown (SPEAKER_15)
and then thrust upon our youth through social media and technology and the people who want to profit from this politicization. And it's shameful. It's harmful. And thank God for people like Chloe Cole. And thank God for the witnesses here who have stood up to speak the truth so the American people can know what's happening and parents can protect their children.
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