You simply can not make this up.
Army doctor tried to give military medical info to Russia
A U.S. military doctor — who previously made headlines as the first known active duty Army officer to come out as transgender — and their spouse were federally indicted in Maryland on Wednesday for attempting to pass sensitive medical information about members of the military to a person who they believed worked for the Russian government.
Maj. Jamie Lee Henry, 39, previously a staff internist at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with a secret-level security clearance, and their spouse, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, 36, an anesthesiologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, communicated and met with an undercover FBI agent who posed as a Russian embassy employee.
Army officials did not immediately respond to a request for information regarding Henry’s current service status and military records.
During an Aug. 17 meeting in a Baltimore hotel room, Gabrielian told the undercover agent that “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 stated.
Previously, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she reached out directly to the Russian embassy offering assistance from her and her spouse, though she reportedly did not tell Henry of this interaction, according to the indictment.
“My point of view is until the United States actually declares war against Russia, I’m able to help as much as I want,” Henry told the undercover agent in another meeting later that night, the indictment stated. “At that point, I’ll have some ethical issues I’ll have to work through,” Henry said, to which Gabrielian reportedly replied, “you’ll work through those ethical issues.”
Additionally, during the discussion, Henry shared that they had looked into volunteering for the Russian Army after its invasion of Ukraine began but noted their lack of combat experience prevented them from joining.
Also in the conversation, Gabrielian instructed Henry to read the book “Inside the Aquarium: The Making of a Top Soviet Spy,” a narrative about recruitment and training for the Soviet Union’s intelligence organization.
The initial meeting was followed by another interaction the next week between Gabrielian and the agent in which the medical professor called her spouse a “coward” for being concerned about violating government health privacy law.
Any issues Henry had, however, allegedly dissipated.
On Aug. 31, at a hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Gabrielian provided the agent with medical information related to the spouse of a person currently employed by the Office of Naval Intelligence, and medical information related to someone described as an Air Force veteran.
“Gabrielian highlighted to the [undercover agent] a medical issue reflected in the records of [the military member’s spouse] that Russia could exploit,” the indictment said.
In the same meeting, Henry provided medical information related to five patients at Fort Bragg, including a retired Army officer, a current Department of Defense employee and spouses of active and deceased Army veterans.
Henry, a transgender woman, previously told BuzzFeed in 2015 that to their knowledge they were the first active duty service member to change their name and gender.
The couple is charged with eight counts of conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information.
Both were scheduled to make an initial appearance at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Thursday.
If convicted, the pair face a maximum of five years in federal prison for conspiracy and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of disclosing personal medical information.
“Henry is currently assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C. as a Staff Internist (61F/Medical Corps) with a rank of Major,” Army spokesperson Matt Leonard told Army Times via email, adding that Henry entered active-duty service in May 2007 and has no combat deployments.
