Dr. Anna Gabrielian, left, and Dr. Jamie Lee Henry, right, an Army medical officer at Fort Bragg, face federal charges of conspiring to hand over the personal health records of high-ranking US soldiers and those of other government employees to Russian spies. Photos courtesy of Twitter and LinkedIn. US Air Force photo by Walter Santos.
An Army medical officer in the Army faces charges of conspiring to hand over the personal health records of high-ranking US soldiers at Fort Bragg and those of other government employees to Russian spies.
Maj. Jamie Henry and her wife, a Johns Hopkins Hospital anesthesiologist, were arrested Thursday, Sept. 29, under an indictment unsealed by US Magistrate Judge Brendan Abell Hurson.
Henry, who was identified in court documents as a male despite Henry’s announcement of being a transgender female in 2015, and her wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, were released Thursday following their initial appearance in court. Both are required to wear tracking devices.
The indictment revealed on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, accuses US Army Maj. Jamie Henry and her wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian — a Johns Hopkins Hospital anesthesiologist — of trying to give the personal health records of high-ranking US soldiers at Fort Bragg and those of other government employees to Russian spies. US Air Force photo.
Henry held a secret-level security clearance and was a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg, the home of the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, headquarters of the US Army Special Operations Command, and the Womack Army Medical Center.
The indictment alleges that the couple met with an informant that they believed was a staffer at the Russian Embassy on Aug. 17 and began to plot to turn over medical records that Henry had access to through her job.
Court documents include a transcribed conversation in which Gabrielian indicated the couple hoped to give the Russians “a long-term weapon” and aid them in their war in Ukraine.
“If you have a useful long-term weapon, that can be used for years,” Gabrielian is quoted saying. “If you use it for something that’s not tactically advantageous, you've lost it for nothing. So if [Henry] can’t practice medicine, can’t be in the National Guard, you've lost an Army doctor. If I have to look somebody up, and I do look somebody up, you've lost a link to [my employer] to establish those medical connections. It has to be something massively important, not just check if this person has polyps.”
A sign near the front gate of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. US Army photo.
Starting on Aug. 17 to their arrest on Thursday, the two conspired to provide patient records held by the United States Army and Medical Institution 1. Gabrielian allegedly came up with a cover story that would explain their interactions with who they thought was a member of the Russian Embassy and a plan to allow their children to “have a nice flight to Turkey to go on vacation because I don't want to end in jail here with my kids being hostages over my head.”
US Attorney Aaron Simcha Jon Zelinsky said he could not speak with the media, and his public affairs contact, Marcia Lubin, said her office would not comment on an active case.
Phone numbers for Gabrielian and Henry were not answered, and their attorney, David Walsh-Little, did not respond to Coffee or Die Magazine’s request for comments.
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on Feb. 24, 2022. Maj. Jamie Henry and her wife, Dr. Anna Gabrielian, expressed that they wanted to help Russia by any means necessary. Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images.
Kim Hoppe, vice president of communications at Johns Hopkins Medicine, provided a statement saying, “We were shocked to learn about this news on Thursday and intend to fully cooperate with investigators.”
Hoppe confirmed that Gabrielian has been on staff since 2019, and is on leave as of Thursday. She also specified that Henry was never employed by Johns Hopkins.
According to the indictment filed in the District of Maryland court, Gabrielian first attempted to contact the Russian Embassy via email and phone to offer individually identifiable health information of military and government employees in order to exploit them.
An undercover FBI agent approached Gabrielian several months later and identified themselves as a representative sent by the Russian Embassy. During every meeting with the undercover agent, Gabrielian never mentioned her wife’s name in order to give Henry “plausible deniability,” should the US government learn of their conspiracy.
Maj. Jamie Henry announced in 2015 that she was the first transgender active duty soldier. Henry held a secret level security clearance and was a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg, the home of the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, US Army Special Operations Command headquarters, and the Womack Army Medical Center. Womack Army Medical Center photo.
When Henry finally met the informant, she allegedly said that, until the US declares war against Russia, she can help Russia as much as she wants.
“At that point. I'll have some ethical issues I have to work through,” Henry said, to which Gabrielian allegedly responded, “You'll work through those ethical issues.”
According to the indictment, Gabrielian met with the undercover agent in a hotel on Aug. 24 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the meeting, she called Henry a “coward” for being nervous about leaking information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Gabrielian also said she had no issue with violating HIPPA and that she did it “all the time.”
On Aug. 31, the two met with the undercover agent at a hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Gabrielian handed over information on the spouse of a current Office of Naval Intelligence employee and another person only identified as a US Air Force employee.
Henry also provided multiple files containing information on a retired Army officer, a current Department of Defense employee, the spouse of a US Army veteran, and two spouses of different deceased US Army veterans, the indictment alleges.
Gabrielian told the undercover agent that she was motivated by her patriotism dedicated to Russia, even if it meant losing her job or going to jail.
If convicted, Gabrielian and Henry face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of disclosing individually identifiable health information. According to a US Attorney’s Office press release, sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
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Joshua Skovlund is a former staff writer for Coffee or Die. He covered the 75th anniversary of D-Day in France, multinational military exercises in Germany, and civil unrest during the 2020 riots in Minneapolis. Born and raised in small-town South Dakota, he grew up playing football and soccer before serving as a forward observer in the US Army. After leaving the service, he worked as a personal trainer while earning his paramedic license. After five years as in paramedicine, he transitioned to a career in multimedia journalism. Joshua is married with two children.
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