A former U.S. Army major and his anethesiologist wife have been charged with plotting to leak highly sensitive health care data about military patients to Russia. Jamie Lee Henry, the former major who was also a doctor at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and his wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, were indicted in federal court in Maryland with conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information about patients at the Army base, according to Reuters. The pair sought to assist the Russian government by providing it with data to help the Putin regime "gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the U.S. government and military," after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February.
The couple met with someone they believed was a Russian official but was actually an FBI undercover agent. At a hotel in Baltimore on Aug. 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." She said her husband had information about military training the U.S. had provided to Ukraine. Later that day, Henry reaffirmed his stance and told the undercover agent he too was committed to Russia and said he had even contemplated volunteering to join the Russian army. However, Henry had some reservations about providing health are data, saying it would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) but Gabrielian had no hesitations. In an Aug. 24 meeting, she told the agent her husband was a "coward" to be concerned about violating HIPAA, but she broke the law "all the time" and would ensure they could provide Russia with access to medical records from Fort Bragg patients. By the end of the month, information on current and former military officials and their spouses was handed over.
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