“Curious” Navy sailor tried to access Biden’s medical records as colleagues “freaked out,” investigation shows
A U.S. Navy corpsman tried to kill him last year out of “curiosity” after a group discussion with colleagues about military security protocols for using government computers, according to a federal criminal investigation obtained by CBS News. Access President Biden’s medical records.
In July, CBS News reported that a U.S. Navy junior sailor was trying to obtain Access to Mr. Biden’s medical records But failed to do so and subsequently received an administrative reprimand for the unauthorized inquiry.
CBS News submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the civilian law enforcement agency responsible for criminal investigations within the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. NCIS released the results of its closed investigation to CBS News on Friday.
The investigation details how a low-ranking U.S. Navy corpsman attempted to obtain the president’s medical records and the punishment he received as a result – a non-judicial penalty for dereliction of duty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the U.S. military’s laws and regulations.
The corpsman, whose name the Navy did not want to disclose, was demoted in rank from E-3 to E-2, put in 20 days of overtime, and received half pay for the next six months. E-2 base pay for two to three years of service is approximately $2,260 per month.
On the afternoon of February 22, at the Naval Medical Readiness and Training Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Navy corpsman sat at his desk, surrounded by the steady hum of his computer and colleagues, according to NCIS documents Their whispers. A civilian described as a licensed nurse and a U.S. Army soldier were working nearby.
The scene was standard bureaucracy until a nearby colleague walked away from her workstation, leaving behind her Common Access Card (CAC)—which was still logged into her account. This inconspicuous little piece of plastic is about the size of a credit card. descriptive Dubbed a “smart” key by the Department of Defense, it can access everything from locked doors to military computer networks.
The group of medical professionals got talking and began discussing the security risks of leaving CAC unattended on their computers.
According to an account of the NCIS investigation team discussion, one of the unnamed persons pointed out the apparent vulnerability: “While you are away, someone could use your CAC maliciously.”
Another voice in the group raised the idea that someone could use an unattended CAC account to snoop on the president’s medical records. The idea hangs in the balance. The Navy corpsman’s reaction was clearly in disbelief – could he really access the medical records of the President of the United States? Following an NCIS investigation, he decided to put it to the test.
The Navy corpsman told NCIS investigators that he was out of curiosity, so he pulled up a patient search database at Genesis Healthcare, the military health care system’s database, and entered “Joseph Biden.” the name.
CBS News Gets
A record appeared titled “Joseph Biden,” along with a date of birth. The NCIS investigation said the Navy corpsman and his colleagues “freaked out” when the file popped up and one of his colleagues walked away from the computer.
The Navy corpsman then turned to Google to look up Mr. Biden’s birth date and found that it matched the birth date on his medical file. He clicked on the record to see what information was in it.
The corpsman later told NCIS investigators that “other than two instances, there was not much information in the record” and that “(he) did not remember the specifics of the instances, but did remember a doctor’s name being listed. “The investigation revealed that the health care worker again turned to Google to search for Dr. Biden’s name, which did not match the name listed in Genesis records.
The corpsman told the NCIS agent that he realized at this point he should have stopped looking at the records and closed the file. Forensic analysis shows the “Joseph Biden” file was accessed for about 20 seconds, between 1:22 and 1:23 p.m.
A female colleague knew medical staff were searching the system for the president and suggested he report it to his superiors. The health care worker said he knew he would be reported for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patients’ health information.
He did not report the crime immediately but told investigators he felt guilty and reported the crime the next morning. However, by this time another colleague had reported the breach to the chain of command. The medical staff waived their rights and admitted to accessing the record out of curiosity.
The corpsman said he did not “print, save, email, download, photograph or otherwise record the record.” Another colleague told investigators they had never heard the corpsman express “any information about his political beliefs or background” and that he had been “indifferent” until the documents emerged, saying he was “freaking out” “.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched the investigation on February 26. On February 27, the deputy director of the White House Medical Unit, identified in the NCIS report as a U.S. Army officer, told investigators that the records obtained by medical personnel did not exist. The President’s legal electronic health records.
A White House official told CBS News in July that the president learned of the sailor’s attempt to obtain his medical records within hours of White House staff being notified of the attempted intrusion by the Department of Defense.
On February 28, two days after the Navy criminal investigation began, the president received his annual physical at Walter Reed. The president is seen as “suitable for workhis doctor said after a medical examination that lasted about two and a half hours.
NCIS agents also reviewed the corpsman’s social media accounts. Agents discovered that when he performed a reverse image search on Instagram, his profile photo “revealed images that may be associated with the online ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous.” It’s unclear whether NCIS agents confirmed the findings. There is no actual connection between the Medics and Anonymous.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigators, with the medical staff’s full cooperation, confiscated the medical staff’s MSI laptop and Apple iPhone. The laptop’s internet browser history showed the sailor searched for “Biden, doctors, flights, anonymous, president, president of the United States.” One text message shows the corpsman telling an unnamed person that he “found Joe Biden.” The laptop and mobile phone were later returned.
No one else present during the incident was reportedly disciplined.
Read the NCIS investigative report here:
