The U.S. Department of Justice attempted to place a gag order on Dr. Eithan Haim—a Houston doctor who blew the whistle on chemical sex change procedures on minors at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Burke Law Group, the firm representing Haim, explained that the DOJ filed a reply on Monday supporting its motion for a gag order against the whistleblower.
Among other restrictions, the DOJ’s gag order aims to effectively block Haim from retweeting notable figures who came to his support on social media platform X—according to BLG.
Among those listed were several Texas lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-CD2) and State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian).
“The prosecutors in @eithanhaim’s case are doubling down on their shameless effort to ask the court to censor us and our client on @X,” Burke Law Group stated. “We will continue to zealously represent @EithanHaim’s liberty, and now his (and our) First Amendment right to Free Speech.”
Harrison posted on X that the motion to silence Haim is “outrageous.”
“Biden’s corrupt DOJ is trying to gag whistleblower @EithanHaim… and citing my X feed as a justification,” he said. “Their lawfare against him is imploding, so these hacks are now attacking the 1st amendment to avoid humiliation.”
“Trump can’t get to DC fast enough,” Harrison concluded.
U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner reportedly deferred the gag order on Tuesday. However, he clarified that he would not hesitate to revisit the DOJ’s motion if Haim’s defense did not “dial back” criticisms about the case levied against the government.
“Let’s just try this in a courtroom. That’s what it’s here for,” Hittner said.
Simultaneously, the lead prosecutor of Haim—Tina Ansari—was recused from the case on Tuesday after it was found she had familial ties to Texas Children’s Hospital that created a conflict of interest.
Haim faces a four-count indictment after revealing chemical sterilization procedures that were continuing at Texas Children’s Hospital, although CEO Mark Wallace announced the program would be shut down due to severe public backlash.
Haim faces maximum penalties of a $250,000 fine and ten years in federal prison.
Judge Hittner scheduled a pre-trial conference for February 6, and jury selections will begin on February 10.
Texas Scorecard reached out to Texas Children’s Hospital for comment but has not received a response at the time of publication.
