Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3194315/ukraine-war-us-charges-ex-army-major-and-wife-over
World/ United States & Canada

Ukraine war: US charges Army major and wife over plot to leak military health data to Russia

  • Major Jamie Lee Henry and Dr Anna Gabrielian allegedly tried to aid Putin’s government after the start of Moscow’s invasion
  • Prosecutors say Gabrielian told an FBI agent posing as a Russian official that her spouse had information about military training the US had provided to Ukraine
Former major Jamie Lee Henry (left) and spouse Dr Anna Gabrielian (right). Photos: US Army/Dr Anna Gabrielian via LinkedIn

A US Army major and her anaesthesiologist wife have been criminally charged for allegedly plotting to leak highly sensitive healthcare data about military patients to Russia, the Justice Department revealed on Thursday.

Major Jamie Lee Henry, who was also a doctor at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and spouse Anna Gabrielian, a former anaesthesiologist in Maryland, were charged in an unsealed indictment in a federal court in Maryland with conspiracy and the wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information about patients at the army base.

Jamie Lee Henry is transgender, and in media interviews has used she/her pronouns. Reuters could not immediately determine who is representing them in the case.

The indictment alleges that the plot started after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

Prosecutors said the pair wanted to try to help the Russian government by providing them with data to help the Putin government “gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the US government and military”.

The two met someone whom they believed was a Russian official, but in fact was actually an FBI undercover agent, the indictment says.

At a hotel in Baltimore on August 17, Gabrielian told the undercover agent “she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail”, the indictment says.

In the meeting, she volunteered to bring her spouse into the scheme, saying Henry had information about prior military training the United States provided to Ukraine, among other things.

At another meeting later that day, Henry told the undercover agent she too was committed to Russia, and claimed she had even contemplated volunteering to join the Russian army.

“The way I am viewing what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia,” she allegedly told the agent.

The agent in turn urged them to read a book called Inside the Aquarium: The Making of a Top Soviet Spy, telling the pair it would help them understand what they were about to do.

“It’s the mentality of sacrificing everything … and loyalty in you from day one,” the agent said. “That’s not something you walked away from.”

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Apparently Henry had some reservations about providing healthcare data, saying it would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the indictment says, but her wife had no hesitations.

In a subsequent August 24 meeting, Gabrielian told the undercover agent her wife was a “coward” to be concerned about violating HIPAA, but she violated the law “all the time” and she would see to it that they could provide Russia with access to medical records from Fort Bragg patients.

By the end of the month, Gabrielian had handed over information on current and former military officials and their spouses, it says.